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A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


THE  ADVENTURES  OF 
CHARLES  L.  YOUNGBLOOD  ON  THE 
PLAINS  AND  MOUNTAINS. 


COMPILED  FROM 

MR.  YOUNGBLOOD'S  OWN  JOURNAL. 


PROFUSELY  ILLUSTRATED. 


chicago  and  new  york: 
Rand,  McNally  &  Company,  Publishers. 

1  890. 


Copyright,  1890,  by  C.  L.  Youngblood  and  E.  H.  Peck. 

Highty  Hunter. 


TO  MY  AGED  FATHER, 
WHOSE  PATERNAL  CARE  AND  AFFECTION  HAVE  BEEN  SO 
CONSTANTLY  MANIFESTED  TOWARD  ME 
DURING  MY  WHOLE  LIFE, 
THIS  BOOK  IS  AFFECTIONATELY  DEDICATED. 

C.  L.  Y. 


(5) 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 


Introduction   11 

CHAPTER  JL 
Speculation— A  Corner  in  Poultry— Bruin  on  Top   17 

CHAPTER  III. 
Out  for  a  Hunt — A  Missing  Overcoat — Youngblood's 
First  Buffalo — Indians  on  the  Tramp — Old  Poison- 
slinger....   29 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Bad  Indians — Buffalo-chips — A  Frightened  Hunter — 
Not  Quite  Dead  Yet   45 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  Move  to  Smoky  River — The  Indians  Attack  the 
Camp — On  the  War-path — The  Captives   59 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Great  Luck — Red-skins  Again — Some  of  Them  Die 
Suddenly — A  Ghastly  Belt — How  the  Indians  Con- 
duct Buffalo-hunts  —  The  Delights  of  being  a 
Squaw— Indian  Torture   77 

CHAPTER  VII. 
The  Legend  of  the  "  White  Woman  " — A  Night  with 
Wolves — Black-tailed  Deer — Panthers  and  Mount- 
ain Lions — Back  to  the  Plains   91 

(?) 


8 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

PAGE. 

Back  to  Kansas— -At  Odds— The  Biter  Bit— Emigrants 
on  a  Hunt— Indians,  Not  Buffalo   103 

CHAPTER  IX. 
The  Soldiers'  Lagging  Chase  of  Indians— All  Dress- 
parade  and  No  Sense— A  Greeny  Catches  a  Buf- 
falo Calf—"  Help  Me  to  Let  It  Go  "   Ill 

CHAPTER  X. 
Meanness  Which  Did  Not  Pay— Too  Confident  Hunt- 
ers— Dangers  of  the  Plains  —  Back  to  Missouri 
Once  More   121 

CHAPTER  XL 
In  the  Lake  District— A  Gang  of  Badgers— A  Good 
Harvest  of  Wolf -skins — Omahas — Jimmie's  Fright 
—A  Bad  Blizzard— Frost-bitten   125 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Cimarron  Creek— Plenty  of  Game — In  a  Bad  Fix — He 
Couldn't  Stand  the  Indians — Afraid  of  Lightning 
Over  His  Head— A  Laughable  Accident  139 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Wild  Horses— Perishing  of  Thirst— Water  at  Last — 
Bones  on  the  Plains— Knew  More  than  the  Guide 
—The  Result  of  Pigheadedness   149 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
A  Great  Buffalo-hunt — New  Game — A  Lively  Chase 
after  Wild  Horses   159 

CHAPTER  XV. 
After  Wild  Horses  Again— Hostile  Red-skins— A  Big 
Drive— A  Close  Brush  with  Indians   173 


CONTENTS.  9 
CHAPTER  XVI. 

PAGE. 

Disappointment — Bad  Weather— Frightening  a  School 
—A  Close  Shave   187 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
Englishmen  on  a  Lark— Better  Shots  at  Beer-bottles 
than  Buffalo— A  Tussle  with  a  Calf— Howard  in 
Trouble— Dodging  a  Detective.  .   197 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
A  Sudden  Rise— The  Intelligent  Beaver— No  Badger 
for  the  Dogs   217 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
Almost  Starved— Eating  Prairie-dogs— A  Green  Hunt- 
er's Relic— Squeamish  "  Tenderfeet "  233 

CHAPTER  XX. 
South  of  the  Arkansas  River — Two  at  One  Shot — 
Wolves   239 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
An  Editor  Tries  It— Plenty  of  Game — A  Big  Haul- 
Two  Doctors  from  Chicago  —  Duck-shooting — 
Curlew — The  Business  Overdone  243 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
Kansas  as  a  Hunting-ground — Prairie  on  Fire — Buffalo 
Stampede — Snow-bound  and  Nearly  Starved — 
Hunting  and  Breaking-in  Wild  Horses — A  Fair 
Exchange   253 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
Wise  Men  of  the  East— An  Authority  on  Woodchuck 
—Bound  to  Eat  It,  Mudhen  or  Not— The  Tale  of 
a  Tail   265 


10  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 


"No  Man's  Land"— "  Cheyenne  Jim      The  Ace  of 
Spades—- Youngblood  versus  Wolves   275 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
Terrible  Weather— Prairie  Hospitality— A  Game  of 
Bluff— Youngblood  to  the  Fore  285 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 
Rollins'  Ranch— A  Monarch  of  the  Plains— Jolly  Good 
Fellows   293 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 
No  Pay,  No  Meat — On  the  Trail  Again — Water,  Water 
Everywhere!   301 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 
Youngblood  as  a  Piscator — O'Brien  the  Hustler — 
Youngblood,  Junior,  Wins  His  Spurs — A  Modern 
Ananias— Outwitting  the  Reds   307 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 
A  New  Edition  of  the  One-horse  Shay — A  Mighty 
Hunt — A  Needless  Scare — "  Vengeance  is  Mine," 
Saith  the  Pioneer — A  Scrimmage  with  Lo  Vermin  323 

CHAPTER  XXX. 
Garden  City— Several  Successful  Hunts— Heavy  Snow 
—A  Blinded  Bull   335 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 
Dreams  go  by  Contrary— Game  Plentiful— Prairies  on 
Fire— A  Dude  Hunter   349 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 
Conclusion   357 


CHAPTER  I. 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  days  of  the  lordly  bison  are  numbered. 
Here  and  there,  in  the  far  Northwest,  a  soli- 
tary estray,  which  has  thus  far  escaped  its 
inevitable  doom,  is  encountered  by  the  red 
or  the  white  hunter,  but  altogether  there  are 
scarcely  enough  left  to  yield  one  specimen  to 
each  of  the  zoological  gardens  of  the  country. 
It  was  not  so,  however,  in  the  '60s,  when 
the  subject  of  this  narrative  migrated 
from  his  home  in  Indiana  to  the  great  plains. 
At  that  time,  countless  herds  of  buffalo  shook 
the  solid  earth  with  their  mighty  trampling, 
and  no  one  would  have  credited  the  tremen- 
dous slaughter  that  was  to  be  accomplished  in 
the  next  quarter  of  a  century. 

Let  us,  then,  ere  the  bison  passes  into  the 

annals  of  mythology,  and  he  that  has  seen  a 

buffalo  is  laughed  at  as  a  relater  of  fairy  tales, 

CD 


12 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


record  the  adventures  of  a  hunter  of  those 
powerful  and  formidable  beasts. 

Charles  L.  Youngblood  was  born  in  Ander- 
son Township,  Warrick  County,  Indiana,  on 
the  9th  of  April,  1826.  His  father  was  a 
Methodist  minister,  a  native  of  South  Caro- 
lina, and  his  mother  was  a  Virginian.  The 
first  forty  years  of  Charles'  life  were  devoted 
to  farming,  and  during  those  years  he 
learned,  if  not  much  from  books,  a  vast  deal 
from  Nature.  His  education  was  of  the  most 
rudimentary  sort,  for  it  was  not  until  years 
later  that  the  modern  pedagogue,  with  his 
globes,  and  his  charts,  and  his  thousand  and 
one  devices  for  teaching  the  young  idea  how 
to  shoot,  got  abroad  in  the  land.  The 
Hoosier  school-house  of  those  days  was  a 
primitive  log  cabin,  with  a  big  open  fire- 
place, wherein  the  great  logs  roared,  and 
snapped,  and  sizzled  during  the  three  or  four 
winter  months  which  constituted  the  school 
session;  and  the  presiding  genius  was  a  sort 
of  bugaboo,  whose  rod  backed  the  infallible 
authority  of  the  blue-covered  spelling-book, 


INTRODUCTION. 


13 


and  concealed  only  too  often  the  scant  limits 
of  his  own  information.  Country  life,  in 
those  days,  was  generous,  spontaneous,  and 
free,  and  all  men  were  neighbors  on  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  golden  rule,  for  occasions  often 
rose  when  a  friendly  neighbor  was  about  the 
handiest  thing  a  man  could  have  about  him. 
It  has  been  frequently  noted  that  life  in  the 
country  is  far  more  sociable  than  that  of  a 
city,  and  the  observation  might  be  for- 
mulated in  a  general  rule,  that  the  farther 
apart  the  houses  the  closer  together  are  the 
hearts.  Innumerable  occasions  for  social 
gatherings  were  known  to  our  fathers  which 
we,  in  these  populous  times,  have  never 
known.  There  were  log-rollings,  quilting- 
bees,  wood-chopping  matches,  camp-meet- 
ings (real  camp-meetings  they  were,  too,  and 
not  the  pretenses  of  to-day),  corn-huskings, 
and  affairs  of  that  sort,  which  kept  dwellers 
at  a  distance  neighborly  and  familiar;  and  to 
the  old  settler  who  compares  the  selfish  rush 
and  scramble  of  our  times  with  the  friendly 
generosity  of  the  days  of  his  youth,  it  must 


14 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


appear  that  the  world  has  lost  something  in 
becoming  more  thrifty  and  enlightened. 

Perhaps  it  was  a  sense  of  the  decay  of 
primitive  customs,  coupled  with  an  innate 
love  for  adventure,  which  caused  the  young 
farmer,  whose  historian  we  are,  to  weary  of 
his  Indiana  home,  and  to  follow,  with  long- 
ing eyes,  the  westward  course  of  the  nation's 
eager,  pulsing  life. 

Some  men  are  born  to  be  pioneers;  the 
conventionalities  and  tame  monotony  of  civ- 
ilized life  are  irksome  to  them,  and  in  all 
places,  except  upon  the  frontiers,  where  life 
is  a  rough-and-tumble  sport  with  the  ele- 
ments, they  are  dissatisfied  and  out  of  place. 
Youngblood  was  such  an  one,  and  in  1865 
his  longing  for  the  free,  open  life  of  the 
backwoods  became  so  strong  and  keen,  that 
he  cut  abruptly  loose  from  the  ties  of  friends 
and  kindred,  and,  with  his  wife  and  children, 
started  out  on  the  western  trail,  across  Illi- 
nois and  Missouri,  and  brought  up  in 
Kansas  City,  which,  at  that  period,  was 
nothing  but  a  small  frontier  town,  with  a 


INTRODUCTION. 


15 


convenient  location  upon  the  Kansas-Mis- 
souri State  line.  The  pioneer  had  reached 
the  frontier  once  more,  and,  thenceforward, 
he  never  turned  back  to,  nor  regretted,  the 
civilization  he  had  abandoned.  Fortunately, 
for  those  who  have  done,  and  will  do,  the 
same,  some  men  are  "  built  that  way." 


CHAPTER  II. 


SPECULATION  —  A    CORNER    IN    POULTRY  — 
BRUIN  ON  TOP,  ETC. 

When  Youngblood  reached  Kansas  City, 
in  1865,  the  "boom"  had  not  yet  struck  the 
town,  and  it  was  a  small,  uninviting, 
unpromising  place.  The  new-comer  had 
almost  money  enough  in  his  pocket  to  buy 
it  as  it  stood,  and  still  have  enough  left 
to  make  some  of  the  improvements  which 
it  sadly  needed.  In  the  light  of  later  de- 
velopments, he  has  been  bitterly  sorry  that 
he  did  not.  If  the  struggling  town  had 
looked  more  inviting,  he  might  now  be 
the  landlord  of  about  200,000  tenants;  but 
the  miserable,  squalid  shanties  of  that  day 
he  had  no  use  for,  and  later,  when  he 
wanted  to  buy,  the  owners  were  not  in  a 
trading  humor.  Accordingly,  he  lingered 
but  a  short  time  in  the  embryo  metropolis  of 

2  (17) 


18 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


the  Southwest,  ere  he  pushed  on  into  Kansas* 
But,  in  spite  of  his  frontiersman -like  tenden- 
cies, accustomed  as  he  had  grown  to  ten-acre 
fields  with  neat  fences  about  them,  the  broad, 
open,  treeless  prairies  seemed  desolate  in- 
deed; so,  in  despair,  the  pioneer  retraced  his 
steps  into  Missouri,  where  he  finally  bought 
a  farm  near  the  center  of  the  State,  and 
remained  there  until  1870. 

While  living  here,  the  "boom"  came 
along,  and,  in  its  impetuous  rush,  struck 
Mr.  Youngblood  several  severe  blows.  A 
railroad  was  surveyed  through  the  section  in 
which  his  farm  was  situated,  and  a  town  laid 
out — on  paper.  It  was  a  "  dead  sure  thing;" 
work  was  already  begun  on  the  railroad,  and 
town  lots  were  bound  to  command  a  pre- 
mium as  soon  as  the  line  reached  the  place. 
It  was  too  good  a  chance  to  be  missed,  with 
millions  sticking  out  of  it  at  every  corner; 
so  Mr.  Youngblood  laid  out  several  thou- 
sands of  dollars  in  buying  up  a  good  part  of 
the  town  from  the  misguided  owners,  who 
were  sacrificing  the  land  at  about  ten  times 


SPECULATION. 


19 


its  real  value.  Soon  afterward,  history  once 
more  demonstrated  its  parrot-like  ways  of 
repetition,  the  projected  railway  fell  through, 
and  the  man  who  was  to  have  prospered  by 
the  now  collapsed  "  boom,"  found  it  hard  to 
unburden  himself  of  his  superfluous  real 
estate,  even  at  prices  that  amounted  to  a 
virtual  giving  of  it  away.  The  speculator 
had  greater  reason  than  ever  to  regret  that 
he  had  not  purchased  Kansas  City,  but  still 
more  that  he  had  bought  a  city  which  was 
" bound  to  grow." 

Disheartened  at  this  unlucky  turn  of  the 
wheel,  Mr.  Youngblood  once  more  pulled  up 
stakes  and  again  turned  his  face  toward  the 
setting  sun,  with  a  cargo  consisting  of  about 
200  bushels  of  dried  fruit  and  a  lot  of  but- 
ter. He  passed  through  Denver,  Golden  City, 
Black  Hawk  City,  and  Central  City  to  Neva- 
da City,  where  he  sold  out  his  cargo  and 
cast  about  for  an  anchorage. 

Nevada  City,  at  this  time,  was  herself  en- 
joying a  "boom,"  a  genuine  uboom."  The 
mining  fever  was  at  its  height,  and  every- 


20 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


one  was  infected  and  drawn  into  the  mad 
rush  after  wealth.  The  town  was  young  and 
typically  frontier.  Everybody  had  some- 
thing to  do,  and  did  it,  and  it  was  as  impos- 
sible to  escape  the  excitement  as  it  would 
have  been  to  get  rich  by  sitting  down  and 
waiting  for  a  ship  to  sail  down  the  mountains. 
But  while  the  larger  proportion  of  the 
populace  were  seeking  the  elusive  metals, 
others,  with  wise  forethought,  calculated 
that  while  " pay  dirt5'  might  or  might  not 
be  struck,  it  was  certain  that  where  people 
are  congregated  there  will  money  be  spent, 
and  so  they  set  themselves  about  securing 
that  wealth  that  was  not  problematical. 
Among  other  odd  industries  practiced  with 
this  end  in  view,  the  novel  scheme  of  poultry- 
raising  excited  our  new  settler's  curiosity. 
At  the  very  first,  it  did  not  strike  him  as 
very  much  of  a  business,  in  fact,  he  con- 
sidered it  as  about  as  close  to  nothing  as  an 
enterprise  could  come;  but  inquiry  developed 
the  fact  that  the  poultry-rancher  was  not  so 
devoid  of  understanding,   after  all.  The 


SPECULATION. 


21 


ranch  was  about  five  miles  from  the  mines, 
where  thousands  of  miners,  with  full-grown 
appetites,  were  at  work,  and  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood  were  several  immense  boarding- 
houses,  some  of  them  patronized  by  as  many 
as  1,500  boarders.  In  these  great  eating- 
houses  the  poultry-raiser  found  a  ready  and 


profitable  demand  for  the  entire  product  of 
his  ranch,  and  obtained  from  them,  simply 
at  the  trouble  of  carrying  the  stuff  away, 
table-scraps  that  reduced  his  feed-bill  to 
absolutely  nothing.  He  was  getting  at  the 
time  from  50  cents  to  $1.00  apiece  for  chickens, 
and  about  as  much  a  dozen  for  eggs,  of  which 


22 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


he  was  selling  some  ninety  dozens  daily.  He 
owned  about  2,000  hens,  and,  having  a  mo- 
nopoly of  the  business,  with  light  labor  and 
small  expense,  was  making  money  hand  over 
fist. 

But  Youngblood,  after  maturely  consider- 
ing the  matter,  decided  that  he  did  not  come 
so  far  simply  to  open  a  hen-house,  and  looked 
further. 

One  day,  as  he  was  wandering  through  the 
town  on  the  lookout  for  an  opening,  he  passed 
a  house  before  which  a  large  crowd  had  col- 
lected. 

"  What's  up? "  he  asked  of  a  bystander. 

uMan  chawed  up  by  a  cinnamon  b'ar," 
was  the  curt  response. 

Youngblood  entered  the  house,  and  saw  the 
poor  unfortunate  stretched  on  a  lounge  await- 
ing death.  But  he  was  an  old  hunter,  and 
"game"  to  his  last  breath;  and,  seeing  the 
stranger's  interest,  described  the  fight,  while 
the  death-dew  was  gathering  on  his  brow. 

It  seemed  that  he  had  shot  and  badly 
wounded  the  bear,  and  was  following  its 


SPECULATION. 


23 


trail  through  a  rocky  piece  of  underbrush, 
when  suddenly  he  came  face  to  face  with  the 
enraged  brute.  Before,  in  his  surprise,  he 
had  time  to  raise  his  rifle,  the  bear  sprang 
upon  him  and  dashed  him  to  the  ground. 
They  rolled  together  over  and  over  among 
the  rocks,  until,  in  his  frantic  efforts  to  free 
himself,  both  the  man's  legs  were  broken. 
Realizing  that  further  struggle  would  be  use- 
less, he  resorted  to  strategy,  and  lay  perfectly 
still,  feigning  death.  The  bear  released  his 
embrace,  and,  after  eyeing  and  smelling  him 
suspiciously  for  a  few  moments,  turned  and 
started  slowly  and  heavily  away.  As  soon 
as  his  antagonist  had  gone  a  few  feet  off,  the 
man  raised  himself  painfully  on  his  hands 
and  knees,  and  began  to  crawl  away;  but  the 
slight  noise  he  was  forced  to  make  attracted 
the  bear's  attention,  and  it  sprang  upon  him 
again  with  redoubled  fury,  breaking  one  of 
his  wrists.  He  again  had  recourse  to  the 
same  strategy,  and  with  more  success  this  time, 
as  he  remained  motionless  until  the  animal 
was  out  of  sight,  and  then  began  dragging 


24 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


himself  homeward  through  the  snow,  which 
was  about  four  inches  deep. 

A  few  moments  after  the  encounter,  his 
brother  happening  to  pass  that  way,  noticed 
the  marks  of  the  struggle,  and,  following  the 
bloody  trail  in  the  snow,  soon  came  up  with 
the  wounded  bear,  which  turned  fiercely 
upon  him,  eager  for  another  fight.  But  a 
repeating  rifle  soon  placed  the  brute  hors  de 
combat,  and  the  victor  turned  back  to  find 
the  other  party  to  the  fight.  Following  the 
trail  for  about  half  a  mile,  he  finally  came 
up  with  the  wounded  man,  and  his  feelings 
can  better  be  imagined  than  described  on 
recognizing  in  the  mutilated  being  his  own 
brother.  The  poor  fellow,  with  one  wrist 
and  both  legs  broken,  had  dragged  himself 
that  distance  over  the  rocks  and  through  the 
snow.  He  was  carried  to  the  nearest  house, 
where  Youngblood  heard  his  story,  and 
where  he  died,  after  lingering  a  few  hours  in 
mortal  agony.  His  grief- stricken  father 
made  a  vow  over  the  dead  body  of  his  son, 
that  he  would  have  the  bear  skinned  and 


SPECULATION. 


25 


would  sleep  upon  its  hide  as  long  as  he 
lived. 

This  grim  incident  made  a  decided  impres- 
sion upon  Youngblood,  in  fact,  decided  him 
to  become  a  hunter,  and  an  opportunity  to 
begin  his  new  vocation  soon  presented  itself. 

A  few  days  later,  at  Golden  City,  he  fell 
in  with  a  party  of  hunters  who  were  on  the 
eve  of  starting  on  a  big  buffalo-hunt,  and 
Youngblood  seized  with  avidity  upon  the 
chance  to  have  some  sport,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  make  a  little  money;  for  buffalo-hunt- 
ing, be  it  well  understood,  was  a  very  profit- 
able business,  the  cured  meat  being  readily 
disposed  of  and  the  hides  commanding  good 
figures. 

The  hunters  welcomed  the  new-comer  to 
their  ranks,  and  with  great  satisfaction  he 
began  his  preparations. 

But  before  the  expedition  started,  a  little 
mischance  came  very  near  putting  our  friend 
in  the  town  jail  instead  of  on  the  plains.  In 
order  to  dry  out  his  gun,  he  loaded  it  one  day 
with  a  charge  of  powder  and  fired  it  at 


26 


A  3IIGHTY  HUNTER. 


random  through  the  front  door  of  his  dwell- 
ing. A  moment  afterward,  he  was  surprised 
at  the  sight  of  a  policeman,  who  ran  across 
the  street,  and,  taking  him  by  the  arm,  said: 

;  4  Come  along  with  me,  sir!  That  is  against 
the  law."  At  this,  Youngblood  quickly 
made  up  his  mind  that  he  was  in  a  bad  strait, 
and  decided  to  try  the  effect  of  stupidity 
upon  the  guardian  of  the  peace;  so,  assum- 
ing a  look  of  innocent  surprise,  he  said: 

"Why,  what's  wrong,  mister?  I  hain't 
done  nothin'." 

"Oh!  you  haven't,  haven't  you?"  ex- 
claimed the  policeman.  "  Didn't  you  shoot 
into  the  public  street?" 

"  Sho!"  ejaculated  Youngblood,  "  you 
ain't  a  goin'  to  take  me  up  jest  fer  firin'  off 
a  load  of  powder  fer  fun,  are  you?" 

"  Yes,  it's  against  the  law,  and  you'll  have 
to  come  along  with  me." 

"I  didn't  know  that,"  said  Youngblood. 
"  Ef  I'd  a  knowed  that,  you  bet  I  wouldn't 
ha'  done  it.    Can't  you  let  me  off  this  time?" 

While  the  policeman  was  considering  the 


SPECULATION. 


27 


matter,  the  town  marshal,  who  had  been 
aroused  by  the  shooting,  came  up,  and  quick- 
ly recognizing  in  the  prisoner  a  brother 
Mason,  accepted  his  excuse,  and,  advising 
him  to  be  more  careful  in  the  future,  set  him 
free.  Thereafter,  when  he  wished  to  dry  out 
his  gun,  he  used  a  swab. 


CHAPTER  III. 

OUT  FOR  A  HUNT — A  MISSING  OVERCOAT — 
YOUNGBLOOD'  S  FIRST  BUFFALO — INDIANS 
ON  THE  TRAMP — OLD  POISON-SLINGER,  ETC. 

The  preparations  for  his  first  expedition  as 
a  hunter  were  soon  made,  and,  in  company 
with  three  other  men,  all  accomplished 
scouts,  Youngblood  set  out  from  Golden 
City  on  an  eighty-mile  tramp  after  buffalo. 
The  first  game  they  struck  was  a  herd  of 
antelope,  of  which  they  succeeded  in  bag- 
ging one.  After  this  little  triumph,  they 
pressed  on  for  about  a  mile  farther,  when 
they  stumbled  upon  a  dug-out,  where  they 
resolved  to  pass  the  night.  After  some  par- 
ley, they  proposed  to  the  owner  of  the  prim- 
itive dwelling  that  they  pay  for  their 
accommodations  with  antelope-meat,  which 
bargain  was  struck  then  and  there. 

Congratulating  themselves  upon  the 
"  dicker,"  they  slept  soundly  that  night,  but 

(29) 


30 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


by  the  next  morning  their  enterprising  land- 
lord had  changed  his  mind  and  demanded 
$5.00  for  his  hospitality.  This  seemed  very 
mean;  but  the  money  was  finally  paid, 
not,  however,  without  value  received.  Their 
host  had  entertained  them  the  night  before 
by  displaying  a  new  overcoat,  which  he 
had  just  bought  for  $14.00.  He  never 
enjoyed  the  luxurious  warmth  of  that  coat, 
for  when  his  guests  bade  him  farewell,  it 
somehow  managed  to  keep  them  company. 
It  was  a  good  trade— $5.00  for  a  $14.00 
overcoat,  and  they  all  got  the  worth  of  their 
money,  for,  being  a  community  purchase, 
they  wore  the  garment  turn  and  turn  about. 

Pushing  forward,  without  any  qualms  of 
conscience,  they  reached  a  spot  that  promised 
good  hunting.  They  were  confident,  from 
various  signs  well  known  to  Youngblood's 
companions,  that  there  was  game  in  the 
vicinity,  but  were  at  a  loss  how  to  get  at  it, 
as  there  was  no  timber  at  hand  in  which  to 
conceal  themselves.  It  was  a  wide,  treeless 
stretch  of  prairie,  and  the  buffalo  would 


OUT  FOE  A  HUNT. 


31 


have  seen  them  miles  away.  However,  they 
determined  to  go  into  camp.  Youngblood 
was  wild  to  catch  his  first  glimpse  of  the  big 


game;  so,  leaving  his  companions  to  make 
the  preparations  for  camping,  he  stole  away 
by  himself,  struck  off  from  the  road,  and 


32 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


after  a  walk  of  several  miles,  his  hopes  were 
realized  by  the  sight  of  a  large  herd  of 
bison.  His  heart  beat  high  with  excitement, 
but  he  kept  at  a  respectful  distance  from 
them  for  two  reasons:  first,  because,  being  a 
novice,  he  was  somewhat  frightened  by  the 
great,  shaggy,  heaving  mass  of  horned  life, 
and,  second,  because  he  feared  that  he  in  his 
turn  might  alarm  them.  However,  keeping 
himself  carefully  concealed,  he  crept  gradu- 
ally closer,  and  when  within  about  500 
yards,  aimed  at  the  herd  and  fired.  It 
was  something  like  the  traditional  shot  at 
the  barn-door,  but  it  scored,  and  he  enjoyed 
the  supreme  satisfaction  of  seeing  his  first 
buffalo  go  down.  He  was  so  elated  with  the 
success  of  this,  his  virgin  effort,  that,  though 
he  might  easily  have  dropped  a  dozen,  he 
contented  himself  with  self-congratulation, 
and  hurried  back  as  fast  as  his  legs  could 
carry  him  to  receive  the  congratulations  of 
his  friends. 

The  entire  party  then  turned  out  to  bring 
the  trophy  into  camp. 


OUT  FOR  A  HUNT. 


33 


But  Youngblood's  adventures  for  the  day 
were  not  yet  at  an  end;  for,  on  their  way  to 
the  place  where  the  slain  monster  lay,  a  huge 
bull  was  spied,  heading  almost  directly  for 
the  party.  "  What  man  has  done,  man  can 
do,"  reasoned  the  doughty  nimrod,  and  he 
begged  his  companions  to  allow  him  to  try 
his  hand  alone  at  this  monarch  of  the  prairie. 
Their  consent  somewhat  reluctantly  obtained, 
he  moved  a  short  distance  to  one  side,  and 
lay  down  directly  in  the  path  of  the  approach- 
ing animal.  On  came  the  unwieldy  brute, 
and  when  the  bloodshot  whites  of  his  eyes 
were  visible,  a  somewhat  close  range,  the 
concealed  hunter  fired.  A  tuft  of  wool  flew 
from  the  bison's  back,  but  he  charged 
straight  on  in  an  unswerving  line.  In  a 
flash,  another  cartridge  was  inserted,  and 
again  Youngblood  fired.  But  it  had  no 
apparent  effect  on  the  bull,  except  to  irritate 
him,  and  to  show  him  the  enemy  that  had 
stung  him.  He  had  not  paid  much  attention 
to  the  first  shot,  but  the  second  he  evidently 
regarded  as  an  insult,  and,  lowering  his 

3 


34 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


head,  came  thundering  right  upon  the  now 
thoroughly  frightened  hunter,  who  began  to 
think  that  hunting  the  buffalo  was  not  such 
fun,  after  all,  and  to  wonder  whether  the 
beast,  when  infuriated,  attacks  with  its 
hoofs,  its  horns,  or  its  teeth,  or  with  all 
three,  when,  to  his  infinite  relief,  the  animal 
dropped  dead  in  its  tracks,  within  a  few 
yards  of  him. 

For  the  next  few  hours,  Youngblood  fancied 
that  he  could  teach  the  rest  all  about  the 
business,  and  when,  a  short  time  after,  he 
sighted  a  herd  about  a  mile  distant,  he 
started  off  to  put  his  theories  into  practice. 

He  got  within  range  and  fired,  killing  one, 
when  immediately  the  entire  herd  gathered 
about  it,  bellowing  and  tossing  their  heads 
in  consternation.  Here  was  his  chance,  and 
he  kept  blazing  away  until  he  had  dis- 
patched eight  and  driven  the  rest  of  the 
herd  away. 

That  settled  it,  and  he  regarded  himself 
as  a  whole  "Wild  West  Combination" — 
Indians  and  cow-boys  included. 


OUT  FOR  A  HUNT. 


35 


The  carcasses  were  quickly  dressed,  and 
the  party  started  on  their  return  to  camp. 
They  had  retraced  their  steps  but  a  short 
distance,  when  they  perceived  a  large  band 
of  Indians  approaching.  It  was  an  anxious 
moment,  and  caused  them  not  a  little  trepi- 
dation until  they  discovered  that  the  red 
brothers  were  not  on  the  war-path.  The 
band  numbered  about  1,500,  and  they  had  a 
permit  from  the  Government  to  hunt  for 
thirty  days.  It  was  a  strange  and  novel 
sight  to  the  man  fresh  from  civilization,  and 
he  watched  the  procession  curiously  as  it 
filed  past.  First  came  the  warriors  on  their 
ponies,  and  after  them  a  straggling  line  of 
squaws  and  luggage.  The  pappooses  were 
lashed  on  the  backs  of  ponies,  which  were 
turned  loose  and  driven  like  a  herd  of  cows. 
After  the  manner  of  the  noble  "Lo,"  all 
the  work  was  left  to  the  squaws,  who  drove 
the  laden  pack-horses,  and  looked  after  the 
luggage  and  pappooses,  while  the  chivalrous 
warriors  rode  at  their  ease  on  ahead. 

The  weather  was  piercing  cold,  and  the 


36 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


driving  snow  pelted  the  unprotected  faces  of 
the  pappooses,  but  they  were  toughened, 
and  took  it  as  a  matter  of  course,  laughing 
and  crowing  with  delight,  while  their  small 
eyes  glittered  like  black  beads.  Some  of  the 
youngest  of  them  were  carried  in  a  sort  of 
pocket,  made  by  slinging  a  blanket  between 
two  poles,  to  one  end  of  which  a  horse  was 
harnessed  as  to  a  pair  of  shafts,  while  the 
other  end  dragged  upon  the  ground.  It 
made  a  primitive  but  efficient  perambulator, 
and  the  babies  appeared  to  enjoy  it.  As  the 
long  procession  tiled  past,  one  of  the  ponies 
shied  violently  at  the  strangers,  made  a  dash 
and  jumped  across  a  narrow  gulch,  causing 
some  excitement,  and  slinging  out  the  little 
fellows  it  carried,  like  young  birds  tipped 
out  of  a  nest.  Youngblood's  acquaintance 
with  Indians  and  Indian  characteristics  was 
afterward  considerable,  but  this  was  the  only 
time  he  ever  knew  an  Indian,  young  or  old, 
to  shed  tears. 

The  slain  bison  were  safely  brought  into 
camp,  but  buffalo-meat,  at  this  time,  was  a 


OUT  FOR  A  HUNT. 


37 


drug  in  the  market,  and  it  did  not  pay  to 
save  it,  so  for  the  remainder  of  the  expedi- 
tion Youngblood  and  his  companions  went 
hunting  simply  for  the  sake  of  the  hides. 
They  were  very  successful,  and  in  a  few  days 
they  had  killed  over  100,  all  of  which  they 
carefully  skinned,  leaving  the  carcasses  to 
rot  upon  the  plains. 

While  out  on  this,  his  first  hunt,  our  friend 
met  with  a  decidedly  painful  accident.  As 
he  was  pushing  his  way  into  camp  after  a  long 
tramp  across  the  prairie,  he  saw  three  buffalo 
lying  down.  He  had  only  five  cartridges 
left;  so,  to  make  sure  of  them,  he  slipped  up 
as  close  as  he  could,  and  then  fired,  killing 
two  and  mortally  wounding  the  other.  His 
last  cartridge,  with  which  he  meant  to  put  an 
end  to  the  injured  survivor,  failed  to  fire, 
and  as  he  was  attempting  to  pick  it  out,  it 
exploded,  frightfully  mangling  his  hand. 
This  accident  prevented  all  hunting  for 
nearly  two  weeks,  and  came  very  near  being 
the  cause  of  a  still  greater  misfortune. 

While  his  hand  was  still  too  sore  to  handle 


38      #  A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 

a  gun,  he  had  wandered  out  by  himself,  and, 
at  some  distance  from  the  camp,  was  stroll- 
ing leisurely  along  a  branch,  when,  attracted 
by  an  unusual  rustling  sound,  he  happened 
to  look  up,  and  over  the  top  of  a  ridge,  only 
a  few  yards  away,  he  saw  the  "tips "'of 
several  Indians,  as  they  passed  in  single  file 
on  the  other  side.  Unarmed  as  he  was,  his 
heart  was  in  his  mouth,  for  he  recognized 
them  as  belonging  to  a  hostile  tribe.  With 
great  presence  of  mind,  and  as  noiselessly  as 
possible,  he  threw  himself  flat  on  his  face, 
and,  with  great  good  luck,  the  Indians  passed 
without  observing  him,  for,  if  he  had  attracted 
their  attention,  they  would  certainly  have 
made  short  work  of  him.  This  was  a  lesson 
to  him,  and  in  the  future  he  never  went  far 
from  the  camp  without  his  trusty  "old 
poison-slinger,"  which  was  the  picturesque 
name  given  his  gun  by  his  companions. 

"  Old  poison-slinger  "  was  a  Sharp's  rifle, 
50-caliber,  made  ^to  load  and  shoot  eight 
times  a  minute,  and  capable  of  throwing  a 
ball  to  kill  at  a  distance  of  five  miles. 


OUT  FOR  A  HUNT. 


39 


Youngblood  often  killed  with  it  buffalo 
which  were  a  mile  away,  and  made  such  long 
shots  with  it  that,  after  firing,  he  had  plenty 
of  time  to  raise  his  head  and  mark  the  ball 
as  it  struck  its  goal. 

Not  long  after  the  accident  to  Youngblood' s 
hand,  two  of  the  hunters  decided  that  they 
had  had  enough  of  it,  and  returned  home; 
but  by  this  time  our  hero  had  become  enthu- 
siastic in  regard  to  the  sport,  and  he  managed 
to  persuade  the  third  man  to  remain  awhile 
longer.  This  man  was  a  most  excellent  shot, 
and  the  two  hit  it  off  very  well  together. 

On  one  occasion,  when  they  were  out 
shooting,  about  twenty  miles  back  from  their 
camp,  close  to  a  little  stream,  which  bore  the 
grewsome  name  of  Cold  Hell  Creek,  Young- 
blood's  partner  had  a  good  chance  to  prove 
his  ability  as  a  shot,  and  by  so  doing,  in  all 
probability,  saved  his  own  life.  Pie  had 
killed  several  buffalo,  and  wounded  one  cow, 
which  fell  over  on  its  side.  The  hunter 
advanced  to  kill,  but  before  he  had  come 
very  close  to  her,  fortunately  for  him,  she 


40 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


stumbled  to  her  feet,  and  made  a  dash  at 
him. 

Now,  a  badly  wounded  buffalo  becomes 
mad  with  desperation,  and  will  rush  upon  its 
enemy  with  a  headlong  force,  which  nothing 
short  of  solid  rock  can  resist,  and,  at  such 
times,  it  is  much  safer  for  anything  merely 
human  to  be  as  far  out  of  its  reach  as  pos- 
sible. When  her  antagonist  saw  her  thus 
unexpectedly  active,  he  at  once  realized  what 
she  meant,  and  realized  his  danger.  His 
coolness,  however,  did  not  desert  him,  but, 
dropping  on  one  knee,  and  resting  his  rifle 
on  the  other,  he  awaited  her  onslaught  until 
she  was  within  about  twelve  feet  of  him, 
when  he  fired.  The  bullet  struck  her  full  in 
the  jaw,  stunning  her,  and  she  fell  once  more 
heavily  to  the  ground.  This  time  he  took 
no  risks,  but,  before  she  had  time  to  recover, 
shot  her  through  the  heart. 

A  few  days  after  this  incident,  the  two 
hunters  decided  to  pull  up  stakes,  and  try 
their  luck  at  a  point  about  twenty  miles  east 
of  Cold  Hell  Creek,  on  the  bed  of  the  Repub- 


OUT  FOR  A  HUNT. 


41 


lican  River.  The  journey  was  accomplished 
satisfactorily,  and  here  they  remained  and 


iiiS 


mm 


hunted  for  about  a 
fortnight.   For  the 
first  two  or  three 
days  of  their  so- 
journ here,  they  were  woe- 
fully disappointed,  for  not  a 
buffalo,  nor  a  sign  of  a  buf- 
falo, could  they  discover; 
but  their  recompense,  in  the  end,  was  far 


42 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


beyond  their  most  sanguine  expectations. 
As  they  were  riding  along  one  morning,  dis- 
heartened and  discouraged  at  their  ill-suc- 
cess, there  suddenly  burst  upon  their 
entranced  view  the  most  tremendous  herd 
of  the  longed-for  beasts  that  Youngblood  had 
ever  seen  in  his  life,  or,  in  his  long  and  varied 
experience,  ever  saw  again.  It  was  impos- 
sible to  form  any  conjecture  of  how  far  east 
or  west  the  vast  mass  extended.  On  it  came, 
like  an  enormous  dark,  whirling  cloud,  and 
with  a  mighty  thunder  of  hoofs  that  shook 
the  plain  as  if  it  had  been  riven  by  an  earth- 
quake, frightening  the  horses  so  that  they 
became  almost  unmanageable,  and  electrify- 
ing both  men  to  the  highest  pitch  of  excite- 
ment. All  that  day,  and  all  that  night,  in  a 
broad  column,  the  great  animals  tramped  by 
with  a  heavy,  continual  rumble,  and  an 
incessant  bellowing.  No  thought  of  sleep 
came  to  the  sportsmen,  even  if  sleep  had 
been  possible  in  the  midst  of  the  uproar. 
One  continual  blaze  of  fire  sprang  from  their 
guns,  and  when  the  herd  had  passed,  the 


OUT  FOR  A  HUNT. 


43 


number  of  carcasses  amounted  to  103,  which 
would  have  been  even  much  larger  if  they 
had  not  paused  occasionally  to  remove  the 
skins  of  those  they  had  already  killed. 

They  returned  to  their  camp,  elated  beyond 
all  description,  but  full  of  wonderment  as  to 
what  could  be  the  cause  of  such  a  large  herd 
passing  at  full  gallop.  Their  curiosity  was 
finally  satisfied,  for  they  found  out  some 
time  afterward  that  trouble  had  broken  out 
between  the  Cheyenne  Indians  and  the  Utes, 
and  the  Utes,  being  beaten  and  driven  back, 
had  set  fire  to  the  prairie  to  prevent  pursuit. 
This  conflagration  in  the  high,  thick  grass 
had,  in  its  spread,  driven  before  it  the 
buffalo,  antelope,  wolves,  and  other  four- 
footed  denizens  of  the  great  plains. 

With  this  magnificent  result  closed  the 
first  experience  of  the  young  emigrant  from 
Hoosierdom  in  his  new  career,  which  he 
afterward  pursued  with  constant  delight  to 
himself,  and  an  ever-increasing  prosperity  to 
his  pocket. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


BAD  INDIANS — BUFFALO  CHIPS — A  FRIGHT- 
ENED HUNTER — NOT  QUITE  DEAD  YET, 
ETC. 

After  the  extraordinary  prowess  which 
Youngblood  had  exhibited,  even  in  his 
novitiate,  he  felt,  and  justly,  that  he  should 
no  longer  be  reckoned  as  a  "  tenderfoot,"  but 
was  entitled  to  take  his  position  as  a  full- 
fledged  hunter  and  scout.  But  thus  early  in 
his  career  he  was  condemned  to  meet  with 
one  rather  serious  drawback  to  the  safe  and 
successful  pursuit  of  his  vocation.  One  of 
the  periodical  Indian  outbreaks  occurred,  and 
the  Indians  became  so  aggressive  that  hunters 
were  compelled,  for  their  own  security,  to  go 
out  in  squads  of  from  eight  to  a  score,  and 
even  then  their  excursions  were  attended  with 
considerable  risk. 

Almost  every  day  the  killing  of  one  or 
more  hunters  was  reported.    These  were 

(45) 


46 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


generally  solitary  scouts,  for  the  Indians  are 
usually  far  too  cowardly  to  make  an  attack, 
unless  their  own  numbers  are  overwhelm- 
ingly the  greater.  The  plan  which  meets 
with  the  most  favor  among  these  aborigines 
is  for  a  large  band  to  creep  about  and  sur- 
round a  small  party  of  three  or  four  whites, 
and  then,  with  fiendish  delight,  shoot  down 
the  defenseless  men  or  put  them  to  death 
with  the  most  horribly  ingenious  tortures. 

It  was  not  long  before  Youngblood  had 
some  experience  of  their  treacherous  double- 
dealing.  He  was  one  of  a  band  of  ten  buffalo- 
hunters,  when  a  troop  of  Ogallahs  encamped 
not  far  from  them.  They  had  come  from 
their  own  reservation  with  the  usual  thirty 
days'  hunting  permit  from  Uncle  Sam.  One 
day,  soon  after  their  arrival  in  the  vicinity, 
a  small  squad  rode  over  to  the  white  men's 
camp.  They  appeared  friendly  enough,  and, 
after  some  preliminary  talk,  proposed  to  race 
the  horses  they  rode  with  those  of  the 
hunters,  the  winners  in  the  several  races  to 
take  both  horses.  The  Indians  wTere  unlucky, 


BAD  INDIANS. 


47 


and  to  a  man  lost  their  mounts.  Then  they 
put  up  their  guns,  but  with  no  better  success. 
They  bore  their  losses  with  stolidity,  how- 
ever, and  did  not  seem  much  chagrined,  but 
shook  hands  all  around  with  the  greatest 
appearance  of  good- will.  In  fact,  their  pro- 
fessions of  friendship  were  so  profuse  that 
the  suspicions  of  Youngblood  and  his  friends 
were  strongly  aroused,  and  they  became  very 
uneasy,  knowing,  as  they  did,  if  the  redskins 
should  prove  revengeful,  they  were  no  match 
for  them  in  numbers.  They  determined, 
therefore,  to  take  all  precautions  possible. 
They  tethered  the  horses  close  together  in  a 
bunch,  devoured  a  hasty  supper,  saw  that 
their  weapons  were  all  in  fighting  trim,  and 
then  put  out  the  fire  and  laid  down,  but  not 
to  sleep.  They  were  on  the  watch  and  pre- 
pared for  the  attack  that  they  felt  confident 
was  certain  to  come. 

JSTor  were  their  premonitions  destined  to 
prove  untrue.  For  a  time  all  was  quiet,  but 
about  two  hours  after  dark,  here  and  there  a 
form  was  discovered  by  the  sharp  eyes  of  the 


48  A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 

hunters,  creeping  stealthily  toward  their 
camp.  Their  object  was  evidently  to  get 
back  their  own  horses,  steal  as  many  of  the 
others  as  they  could,  and,  in  case  of  discovery, 
to  massacre  the  whole  party  before  they 
should  recover  from  their  surprise.  But 
they  had  to  deal  with  men  who  knew  their 
ways  well,  and  who  could  be  quite  as  cunning 
as  themselves  should  the  circumstances  de- 
mand. 

The  little  party  of  watchers  waited  until  the 
would-be  thieves,  and  possible  murderers, 
were  as  close  as  they  considered  they  ought 
to  come,  and  then,  at  alow  word  of  command, 
opened  fire  upon  them  with  their  repeating 
rifles.  This  was  wholly  unexpected  to  the 
Indians,  as  they  were  certain  the  whole  camp 
was  buried  in  sleep.  It  was  a  decided  case 
of  the  biter  bit,  and,  with  wild  yells  of  rage 
and  execration,  all  those  who  had  escaped 
scathless  from  the  bullets  took  to  their  heels 
and  ran  as  fast  as  their  legs  could  carry 
them.  A  few  of  the  hunters  sprang  to  their 
feet  and  pursued  them,  but  only  a  short  dis- 


BAD  INDIANS. 


49 


tance,  as  they  did  not  care  to  come  into  con- 
flict with  the  large  force  not  far  away. 

There  was  not  much  sleep  for  the  white 
men  that  night,  and  the  next  day  they 
decided  it  would  be  best  to  remain  in  camp, 
for  they  knew  well  that  they  had  not  heard 
the  last  of  the  little  affair  of  the  previous 
night,  but  would  be  obliged  to  make  some 
kind  of  a  settlement  with  the  enraged  and 
outwitted  Ogallahs.  Sure  enough,  before  10 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  a  large  body  of  them 
were  seen  slowly  approaching  the  camp.  It 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  noble  savage 
is  Uncle  Sam's  particular  pet,  and  the  hunters 
would  not  dare  to  lift  a  single  finger  unless 
they  were  attacked.  But,  in  view  of  this 
last  contingency,  they  had  gotten  everything 
in  readiness,  and  were  on  the  alert  and  pre- 
pared for  any  emergency  that  might  arise  by 
the  time  the  Indians  were  within  speaking 
distance. 

The  chief,  who  spoke  fair,  not  to  say  idio- 
matically emphatic,  English,  cried  out  explo- 
sively: 

4 


50 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


6  6  You  d— d  killed  four  of  my 

men  out  there!" 

As  lie  spoke,  he  waved  his  hand  to  where 
lay  four  bodies  of  dead  Ogallahs. 

One  of  the  hunters,  Hank  Miller  by  name, 
replied,  "  Pawnees!"  meaning  that  the  men 
had  been  killed  by  the  Pawnees.  At  this 
the  old  chief  flew  into  a  violent  passion,  and 
roared  out:  "Pawnees!  no  Pawnees!"  at  the 
same  time  drawing  his  finger  in  a  rapid  circle 
about  his  head  to  indicate  that,  had  the  kill- 
ing been  done  by  the  Pawnees,  they  would 
have  scalped  their  victims,  which,  of  course, 
the  white  men  had  not  done.  "  Pawnees! 
Pooh!  Pooh!  Pooh!"  he  repeated,  with  a 
world  of  utter  disbelief  expressed  in  the 
ejaculation. 

For  some  little  while  the  chief  and  his 
braves  sat  upon  their  horses  and  bandied 
words  with  their  pale  brethren,  all  the  time 
watching  very  closely  for  any  relaxation  of 
vigilance  that  might  give  them  the  oppor- 
tunity of  comparatively  safe  attack  they 
longed  for.    But  the  wary  hunters  were  too 


BAD  INDIANS. 


51 


much  for  them.  They  stood  erect  and  watch- 
ful, with  their  guns  in  their  hands,  their 
thumbs  on  the  hammers,  and  their  fingers  on 
the  trigger.  They  could  have  fired  at  a 
second's  notice,  and,  all  being  dead  shots, 
each  one  would,  undoubtedly,  have  killed  his 
man.  The  Indians  were  quite  well  aware  of 
this,  and  seeing  that  any  plan  of  retaliation 
they  had  formed  was  wholly  unfeasible,  they 
finally  rode  away,  muttering  imprecations 
on  their  too  cunning  foes  as  they  disap- 
peared. This  was  the  end  of  the  trouble, 
however.  The  hunters  were  not  disturbed 
any  further,  and  returned  peacefully  to  their 
hunting  for  the  rest  of  the  thirty  days,  kill- 
ing on  an  average  100  buffalo  a  day. 

After  this  hunt  was  over,  Youngblood 
decided  to  return  for  a  time  to  Missouri. 
After  remaining  there  for  about  six  months, 
his  roving  instincts  and  a  desperate  longing 
for  the  excitement  of  the  chase  got  the  better 
of  him,  and  he  once  more  started  West. 

Before  leaving  Missouri,  however,  he  made 
arrangements  with  two  inhabitants  of  War- 


52  A  MIGHTY  HIOTTEK. 

rensburg,  A.  Buckmaster  and  L.  S.  Shidler, 
to  dispose  of  the  meat  he  should  send  to 
them;  and  he  also  induced  two  Missourians, 
Louis  Allred  and  Silas  McFerrin,  to  accom- 
pany him  on  his  expedition. 

After  traveling  some  fourteen  days  they 
came  to  a  place  where  there  was  every  pros- 
pect of  '  4  good  hunting. ' '  Buffalo  abounded*, 
and  without  any  difficulty  Youngblood  suc- 
ceeded in  bagging  an  average  of  eight  a  day. 
The  hides  and  flesh  of  eight  good  buffalo 
brought  at  least  $50  in  the  market,  and  so  he 
was  making  a  most  excellent  thing  of  it,  as 
well  as  enjoying  capital  sport. 

They  had  pitched  their  camp  on  the  banks 
of  a  little  stream,  known  as  the  Sappy  River. 
The  country  was  flat  and  open,  and  it  was  at 
least  twenty  miles  from  any  timber.  During 
their  sojourn  here,  they  were  overtaken  by  a 
heavy  snow-storm,  the  snow  falling  to  a  depth 
of  over  a  foot  on  a  level,  and  Youngblood 
and  his  two  companions  were  obliged  to 
remain  shut  up  in  their  tent  for  three  days, 
with  scarcely  any  fuel,  the  storm  having 


BAD  INDIANS. 


53 


come  on  so  suddenly  that  they  were  pre- 
vented from  laying  in  a  supply.  They  had 
only  a  very  small  amount  on  hand,  and  that 
consisted  almost  exclusively  of  buffalo  chips, 
which  is  simply  the  excrement  of  the  buffalo 
dried  in  the  sun. 

This,  to  the  uninitiated,  would  probably 
seem  a  very  poor  substitute  for  coal  or  wood, 
but  in  the  Far  West  it  is  preferred  to  any- 
thing else  for  all  ordinary  jrurposes.  Much 
hotter  fires  can  be  made  from  it  than  that 
produced  by  wood.  Easterners  would  prob- 
ably feel  considerable  delicacy  in  using 
such  fuel,  but  the  wives  of  the  pioneers  think 
nothing  of  carrying  a  load  of  it  in  their 
aprons,  and  in  almost  every  house  a  sackful 
of  it  can  be  found  standing  in  a  corner,  and 
when  the  fire  needs  replenishing,  the  mistress 
of  the  house  takes  a  few  chips  from  the  sack 
.  and  throws  them  on  the  fire  with  no  more 
compunction  than  if  she  were  handling  wood 
or  coal.  By  a  careful  use  of  their  buffalo 
chips,  the  three  companions  contrived  to 
escape  freezing,  and  when  the  snow  had  dis- 


54 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


appeared,  they  prepared  to  resume  their 
hunting. 

The  actual  hunting  itself,  however,  was 
confined  to  Youngblood  himself,  for  neither 
Allred  nor  McFerrin,  the  two  men  he  had 
brought  with  him,  were  in  the  least  skilled 
in  the  noble  sport.  He  had  employed  them 
simply  to  skin  and  prepare  the  meat  of  the 
buffalo  after  his  own  gun  had  brought  them 
low.  Allred  had  certain  ambitions,  how- 
ever, and  one  day  when  Youngblood  had 
killed  several  in  a  short  space  of  time,  and 
they  were  busy  skinning  them,  about  a  mile 
away  he  saw  a  big  buffalo  coming  almost 
directly  toward  them.  Full  of  excitement, 
he  implored  Youngblood  to  let  him  try  his 
luck. 

"AH  right,"  was  Youngblood' s  good- 
natured  response.  "  There  is  the  gun;  go 
ahead!" 

"I  just  want  to  kill  that  one,"  returned 
Allred,  "  so  as  to  be  able  to  say  that  I  have 
killed  a  buffalo." 

Youngblood  nodded.    Allred  strapped  on 


BAD  INDIANS. 


55 


the  cartridge-belt,  picked  up  the  gun,  and 
stalked  off  proudly  with  the  air  of  a  conquer- 
ing hero. 

The  buffalo  was  a  single  one  that  had 
become  separated  in  some  way  from  its  herd, 
and  was  coming  on  the  full  run.  Allred 
walked  quickly  forward  about  200  yards  or 
so,  and  by  this  time  the  buffalo  was  close 
upon  him.  The  amateur  sportsman  could 
not  restrain  a  spasm  of  fright,  as  the  huge 
brute,  still  coming  toward  him  at  a  headlong 
pace,  loomed  up  before  him.  He  brought 
the  gun  to  his  shoulder  as  if  about  to  shoot, 
but  his  alarm  suddenly  overpowered  all 
other  considerations,  and  concluding  discre- 
tion to  be  the  better  part  of  valor,  he  at  once 
turned  tail  and  flew  back  to  where  his  com- 
panions were,  as  if  the  evil  one  himself  were 
behind  him.  At  almost  the  same  moment 
the  buffalo  perceived  him,  and,  frightened  in 
its  turn,  wheeled  about  and  ran  too.  Allred 
never  noticed  this,  but  thinking  the  beast 
was  after  him,  white  with  terror,  fairly 
leaped  over  the  ground,  expecting  at  every 


56 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


stride  to  be  overtaken  and  crushed  by  the 
hoofs  of  his  formidable  antagonist. 

When  he  reached  Youngblood  and  Mc- 
Ferrin,  and  found  them  simply  holding  their 
sides  with  laughter,  he  looked  sheepish 
enough,  especially  after  they  had  pointed 
out  to  him  the  buffalo  rapidly  disappearing 
in  the  opposite  direction.  But  nothing  could 
convince  him,  however,  that  he  had  not 
escaped  a  frightful  danger,  and  he  was  effect- 
ually cured  of  all  desire  to  be  able  to  boast, 
on  his  return  home,  that  he  had  killed  a 
buffalo. 

Another  time,  though,  he  was  in  much  more 
genuine  danger;  he  was  out  with  Young- 
blood,  and  they  were  busily  engaged  in  skin- 
ning the  buffalo  which  the  latter  had  killed, 
when  they  came  to  one  which  still  showed 
signs  of  life.  Youngblood  concluded  to  whet 
his  knife  while  it  was  dying,  and  to  enable 
him  to  do  so,  laid  his  gun  down  upon  the 
ground.  He  had  hardly  commenced  the 
sharpening  process  when  he  was  startled  by 
a  cry  from  Allred. 


BAD  INDIANS. 


57 


"Look  out!"  he  screamed.   uLook  out!" 

He  turned,  and  to  his  horror  saw  that  the 
animal,  in  one  last  effort,  had  staggered  to 
its  feet  and  was  close  upon  them.  There 
was  no  time  to  recover  the  gun,  and  they 
were  forced  to  run  without  it.  The  wounded 
buffalo  stopped  at  the  gun,  and  began  to  paw 
it,  at  the  same  time  digging  its  horns  into 
Youngblood's  coat,  which  had  been  thrown 
down  beside  it.  As  they  had  but  the  one 
gun,  the  two  men  could  do  nothing  but 
retreat  to  a  respectful  distance,  and  calmly 
await  developments.  It  was  not  long,  how- 
ever, before  the  beast  lay  down  beside  the 
gun,  and  soon  drew  its  last  breath,  making 
it  safe  for  them  to  return  and  complete  their 
task. 


CHAPTER  V. 


THE  MOVE  TO  SMOKY  RIVER — THE  INDIANS 
ATTACK  THE  CAMP — ON  THE  WAR-PATH — 
THE  CAPTIVES,  ETC. 

The  little  band  finally  moved  from  Sappy 
River  to  Smoky  River,  a  very  small  stream, 
not  more  than  a  rod  or  two  wide,  and  on  the 
banks  of  which  grew  a  few  straggling  willows, 
with  here  and  there  a  lofty  cotton- wood  tree. 
Youngblood  considered  this  a  good  place  to 
stay  for  awhile  and  continue  his  hunting. 
They  dried  the  fore  quarters  of  the  buffalo 
meat,  and  sold  the  hind  quarters,  sending 
large  quantities  of  it  to  Buckmaster  and 
Shidler,  the  agents  in  Missouri. 

While  at  Smoky  River,  Youngblood 
started  forth  one  day,  taking  Allred  with 
him,  in  search  of  a  herd  of  buffalo  which, 
with  the  aid  of  his  field-glass,  he  had  dis- 
covered some  three  miles  away. 

(59) 


60 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


McFerrin  was  left  behind  in  the  camp 
to  load  cartridges. 

About  an  hour  after  the  departure  of  his 
companions,  he  happened  to  raise  his  eyes, 
and  saw,  at  a  short  distance,  a  band  of 
Indians  riding  down  upon  him.  They  had, 
doubtless,  been  watching  the  camp,  and  had 
waited  for  the  departure  of  the  hunters  in 
order  to  plunder  it  at  their  ease. 

McFerrin  realized  in  an  instant  that, 
single-handed,  he  would  have  no  chance 
against  them,  so,  dodging  from  tree  to  tree, 
he  managed  to  escape  from  the  camp,  and, 
crawling  through  the  grass,  reached  the 
bluffs  on  the  river  and  hid  himself  in  the 
thick  bushes,  where  he  had  a  good  vantage 
point  to  watch  the  proceedings  of  the  ma- 
rauders below. 

The  Indians  approached  with  the  utmost 
caution,  and  when  they  were  within  range, 
fired  several  shots  into  the  tent.  As  this 
action  elicited  no  response,  they  were  satis- 
fied that  the  camp  was  deserted,  and  they  at 
once  dashed  in  and  took  possession.  They 


THE  MOVE  TO  SMOKY  RIVER.  61 

thoroughly  rilled  the  camp  of  everything 
that  was  of  any  value,  and  then  rode  away 
to  a  point  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  distant, 
where  they  hid  themselves  beneath  a  hill- 
side, on  the  road  leading  from  Wallace  to 
the  Republican  River.  This  was  a  road  which 
was  much  frequented  by  hunters,  and  here 
they  lay  in  ambush  until  their  patience  was 
rewarded  by  the  appearance  of  a  man  driv- 
ing a  team  and  wagon.  The  new-comer  was 
Charles  Brown,  one  of  a  squad  of  hunters, 
who  had  driven  ahead  of  the  others  to  make 
ready  a  camp  on  Smoky  River,  leaving  the 
rest  of  his  company  a  mile  or  two  behind, 
skinning  some  buffalo  which  they  had  killed. 

In  all  unconsciousness  the  doomed  man 
rode  on,  whistling  and  chirruping,  when 
suddenly,  from  a  bush  just  ahead  of  him, 
came  a  flash  and  a  report.  With  a  leap,  he 
was  off  his  wagon  and  started  to  run,  but  it 
was  too  late;  the  Indians  were  upon  him, 
and  before  he  had  time  to  realize  what  had 
happened,  another  bullet  laid  him  low — shot 
through  the  head.   The  red  devils  then  began 


62 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTEK. 


going  through  the  contents  of  the  wagon; 
but  before  they  had  succeeded  in  securing 
much  plunder,  they  were  surprised  by  the 
appearance  of  Brown's  party  over  the  hill- 
side, and  in  a  trice  they  were  upon  their 
horses'  backs  and  riding  rapidly  away. 

It  took  the  hunters  some  little  while  to 
realize  what  had  happened,  but,  as  soon  as 
they  did,  they  unharnessed  the  horses  from 
the  wagon  and  started  in  pursuit  of  their 
friend's  murderers.  It  was  too  late,  how- 
ever. The  Indians  had  too  good  a  start,  and 
it  was  impossible  to  overtake  them. 

While  all  this  was  taking  place,  Young- 
blood,  in  blissful  ignorance  of  it  all,  was 
about  three  miles  away,  engaged  in  his 
favorite  occupation  of  killing  buffalo.  He 
had  just  finished  skinning  those  he  had  shot, 
and,  together  with  Allred,  was  in  hot  pur- 
suit of  one  he  had  woun'ded.  The  ground  was 
very  uneven,  and  as  they  reached  the  top 
of  a  little  knoll,  Youngblood's  quick  eye 
caught  sight  of  signs  of  life  below. 

"  There  is  a  herd  now,"  he  remarked  to 


THE  MOVE  TO  SMOKY  RIVER.  63 

Allred,  and  halted  on  top  of  the  hill,  ready  to 
shoot  as  soon  as  the  animals  should  come 
within  range. 

It  was  now  evening  and  fast  growing  dark, 
but  he  could  perceive  that  the  moving  mass 
was  rapidly  coming  toward  them  from  the 
right.  When  it  was  some  600  yards  away 
he  discovered,  to  his  surprise  and  alarm,  that 
instead  of  buffalo  it  was  a  band  of  mounted 
men,  but  whether  whites  or  red-skins  the 
gathering  darkness  prevented  him  from 
making  sure.  The  cavaliers  soon  perceived 
the  silhouettes  of  the  two  men  as  they  were 
clearly  defined  against  the  sky.  As  soon  as 
they  did  so,  they  immediately  dismounted 
and  commenced  making  signs,  but  Young- 
blood  was  determined  to  use  every  precau- 
tion, and  made  no  reply.  He  was  in  a 
thorough  quandary  how  to  proceed,  but  con- 
cluded it  best  to  quietly  await  developments. 
Finally,  one  of  the  men  mounted  his  horse 
again  and  rode  slowly  forward  toward  the 
little  knoll. 

Allred  was  wild  with  excitement. 


64 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


uIt  is  an  Indian,"  he  exclaimed  in  a 
hoarse  whisper.    ' 6  Shoot  him ! ' ' 

Youngblood  was  very  much  inclined  to 
share  his  companion's  belief  and  to  take  his 
advice.  He  slowly  raised  his  gun  to  his 
shoulder,  but,  before  he  could  shoot,  the  man 
hailed  him  in  a  voice  which  he  recognized  as 
that  of  a  white  man  and  a  friend. 

When  the  horseman  was  a  little  closer,  he 
called  out: 

"  Don't  shoot,  Youngblood.  I  came  near 
shooting  you,  but,  thank  heaven!  I  didn't." 

It  was  one  of  the  band  of  hunters  to  which 
Brown  had  belonged,  and  he  at  once  pro- 
ceeded to  inform  Youngblood  of  what  had 
occurred,  and  asked  if  he  would  go  to  the 
spot  where  Brown  had  been  killed,  and  put 
his  body  on  the  wagon  so  that  the  wolves 
would  not  get  at  it. 

Youngblood  promised  to  do  so,  and  he  and 
Allred  started  off  at  once  on  their  homeward 
tramp.  On  the  way  they  stumbled  across 
an  empty  powder-can,  which,  on  examina- 
tion, Youngblood  found  to  be  one  of  his 


THE  MOVE  TO  SMOKY  RIVER.  65 

own.  This  discovery  filled  him  with  the 
direst  forebodings,  for  he  felt  confident  now 
that  the  red  devils  had  been  at  his  camp, 
stolen  everything  he  had,  and,  in  all  proba- 
bility, killed  McFerrin. 

The  two  men,  anxious  and  silent,  now 
hurried  along  as  fast  as  they  could.  When 
they  were  nearly  home,  Youngblood  warned 
his  companion  to  advance  as  cautiously  as 
possible,  as  he  was  afraid  the  Indians  might 
have  left  a  detachment  behind  to  lie  in  wait 
for  the  proprietors  of  the  camp  on  their 
return.  So  they  pushed  carefully  on  until 
they  came  to  the  hill-side  where  Brown  had 
been  killed.  It  was  very  dark  now,  and 
impossible  to  discover  anything  but  the 
wagon,  so  Youngblood  determined  to  go  at 
once  to  camp,  and  return  later,  when  the 
moon  would  be  up,  to  prosecute  the  search 
for  the  body.  When  they  arrived  at  a  point 
about  200  yards  from  the  camp,  he  ordered 
Allred  to  remain  quietly  where  he  was,  while 
he  himself  would  push  on  alone  and  make  a 
sort  of  reconnaissance. 

5 


66 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


He  therefore  stole  ahead,  making  as  little 
noise  as  possible  and  keeping  both  ears  and 
eyes  well  open.  Suddenly  he  perceived  a 
figure  standing  on  a  little  rise  in  the  ground 
just  before  him.  He  instantly  halted,  with 
his  eyes  fixed  upon  the  apparition  and 
scarcely  daring  to  breathe,  when,  to  his 
intense  relief,  the  man  spoke,  and  in  very 
low  tones  the  welcome  words  reached  his  ear: 

"Is  that  you,  Charlie?" 

He  knew  at  once  that  it  was  McPerrin,  and 
ran  toward  him,  crying  out  to  him  that  it 
was  he  and  to  have  no  alarm. 

McFerrin,  who  was  shivering  with  cold 
and  fright,  then  told  him  of  all  that  had  hap- 
pened since  his  departure;  how  the  Indians 
had  come,  stolen  the  horses  and  everything 
they  could  lay  their  hands  on,  and  how  from 
his  hiding-place  in  the  bushes  he  had  wit- 
nessed the  killing  of  the  teamster,  but  was 
utterly  powerless  to  do  anything  to  pre- 
vent it. 

The  moon  soon  came  up,  and  they  went 
down  the  road,  where  they  found  the  poor 


THE  MOVE  TO  SMOKY  RIVER.  67 


fellow  dead  and  frozen  stiff.  He  was  lying 
on  his  face  about  fifty  yards  from  the  wagon. 
There  were  six  bullet-holes  in  his  body,  and 
the  fiends  had  raised  his  scalp.  It  was  a 
fearful  sight,  but  Youngblood  raised  the 
body  in  his  arms,  threw  it  across  his  shoul- 
der, and,  carrying  it  to  the  wagon,  laid  it 
inside  where  it  was  impossible  for  the  wolves 
to  get  at  it. 

This  pious  task  accomplished,  they  re- 
turned in  sorrowful  silence  to  their  depleted 
camp,  where  they  passed  a  wakeful  and 
anxious  night,  pnot  daring  to  show  much 
light,  for  fear  that  the  red-skins  might  still 
be  hovering  about  in  the  vicinity. 

In  the  morning  a  squad  of  hunters  rode  up 
to  the  camp.  Youngblood  informed  them 
of  the  raid,  of  which  they  had  heard  noth- 
ing, and  they  all  then  went  down  to  the  road 
where  Brown's  body  lay.  Loud  and  deep 
were  the  imprecations  as  they  saw  the  mur- 
dered man,  and  in  righteous  wrath  a  vow 
of  vengeance  was  sworn  against  the  dastardly 
perpetrators  of  the  deed. 


68 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


Brown's  companions,  who  had  been  chas- 
ing the  Indians  all  night,  but  who  had  been 
unable  to  catch  them,  returned  during  the 
morning. 

A  council  of  war  was  held,  and  it  was 
unanimously  agreed  to  pursue  the  Indians 
without  delay,  and,  if  possible,  mete  out  the 
fate  to  them  that  they  had  dealt  poor  Brown. 
The  company  altogether  numbered  twenty- 
six  men,  all  armed  with  long-range  repeating 
rifles,  and  each  man  was  furnished  with 
from  100  to  600  cartridges.  For  over 
seventy-five  miles  the  trail  was  followed, 
without  overtaking  the  foe.  It  was  by  no 
means  easy  traveling,  and  in  many  places 
was  not  unattended  with  danger,  for  the 
trail  led  constantly  through  deep  and  heav- 
ily wooded  gorges  and  ravines,  where  it 
would  have  been  the  easiest  thing  in  the 
world  to  have  been  taken  in  an  ambush,  and 
where  everyone  might  have  been  massacred 
without  the  faintest  opportunity  for  retal- 
iation. 

But  the  brave  little  band,  bent  on  punish- 


THE  MOVE  TO  SMOKY  RIVER.  69 

ing  the  cowardly  assassins,  scarcely  paid 
any  lieed  to  danger,  but  pressed  steadily  on, 
in  the  hope  of  the  sooner  overtaking  their 
human  game,  until  their  progress  was  re- 
tarded and  finally  brought  to  a  standstill  by 
a  furious  snow-storm.  The  snow  fell  to  a 
depth  of  eight  inches,  and,  besides  prevent- 
ing them  from  keeping  on  their  course, 
proved  a  serious  matter  in  another  direction, 
as  they  were  entirely  dependent  on  grass  for 
fodder  for  their  horses.  The  men  themselves 
could  live  well  enough  off  the  abundance  of 
game  which  they  brought  down  with  their 
guns,  but  there  was  absolutely  no  way  now 
to  provide  for  their  steeds. 

After  considerable  discussion  it  was  agreed, 
as  soon  as  the  storm  abated  somewhat,  to 
make  for  Fort  Wallace,  where  there  would 
be  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  provender,  and 
the  chase  could  then  be  resumed.  The  fort 
was  reached  without  any  serious  mischance, 
and  the  commander  informed  of  the  straits 
in  which  the  party  found  themselves.  This 
gentleman,   however,  instead  of,  as  they 


70 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTEK. 


expected,  at  once  furnishing  them  with  suf- 
ficient feed  for  their  horses  to  enable  them 
to  continue  the  pursuit,  decided  to  first  send 
a  dispatch  to  General  Pope,  at  Leavenworth, 
acquainting  him  with  the  facts  in  the  case. 
The  latter  replied,  ordering  the  commander 
to  send  fifty  men  and  four  scouts  to  overtake 
and  deal  summary  punishment  to  the  ma- 
rauders. The  four  scouts  selected  to  accom- 
pany the  expedition  were  Hank  Campbell, 
Louis  Allred,  Bill  Peach,  and,  to  his  great 
satisfaction,  our  old  friend  Youngblood  him- 
self. 

The  trail  was  taken  up  at  the  point  the 
first  band  left  it  when  they  struck  off  for 
Fort  Douglas.  It  was  not  long  before  they 
met  with  success.  They  had  proceeded  only  a 
few  miles,  when  one  of  the  soldiers  cried  out: 

"See!  There  is  a  herd  of  buffalo  over 
yonder." 

The  captain  of  the  company  unslung  his 
field-glass,  and,  after  examining  the  herd 
carefully  for  a  few  moments,  lowered  the 
glass,  with  a  laugh. 


THE  MOVE  TO  SMOKY  RIVER.  71 

" There  they  are,  boys,"  he  said.  "If  you 
want  game,  there's  plenty  of  it.  They  are 
Indians,  and  well  armed,  too." 

A  halt  was  immediately  ordered,  the  boxes 
containing  cartridges  were  opened,  and  each 
man  told  to  take  as  many  as  he  could  carry. 
The  Captain  continued  to  watch  the  enemy 
through  his  glass,  and  soon  perceived  that 
they  had  discovered  the  neighborhood  of  the 
soldiers,  and  were  busily  engaged  in  massing 
their  forces  and  making  other  preparations 
for  the  attack.  He  hastily  commanded  his 
men  to  get  into  marching  line — the  teams 
were  left  under  guard — and  the  company 
moved  forward  to  meet  the  foe.  The  ground 
was  smooth  and  level  for  about  two  miles, 
and  the  soldiers  dashed  on  at  a  gallop  until 
within  about  half  a  mile  of  where  the  Indians 
were  drawn  up,  when  the  chief  raised  a  flag 
of  truce,  and  a  moment  after  was  seen  ap- 
proaching, followed  by  four  of  his  men. 

At  a  word  of  command  from  the  Captain, 
the  cavalry  reined  in  their  foaming  horses 
and  halted,  to  see  what  would  be  the  upshot 


72 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


of  the  proceeding.  When  the  Indians  had 
advanced  to  within  a  few  hundred  yards,  the 
Captain  detailed  two  men  to  go  ont  and  meet 
them  and  inquire  their  business.  No  sooner, 
however,  were  they  face  to  face,  than  the 
red-skins  surrounded  them.  Suspecting 
treachery,  the  Captain  immediately  put 
spurs  to  his  horse  and  galloped  forward, 
followed  by  all  his  men. 

A  long  talk  then  ensued,  but  with  no  sat- 
isfactory result,  for  the  Indians  persistently 
and  obstinately  refused  to  understand  any- 
thing that  was  said  to  them.  During  the 
parley,  one  of  them  carelessly,  and  as  if  by 
accident,  allowed  his  horse  to  carry  him 
away  a  few  paces,  and  rode  into  a  ravine, 
where  he  sat  with  only  the  upper  part  of  his 
face  visible,  intently  watching  every  move 
ment  that  took  place. 

As  it  became  evident  that  it  was  hopelessly 
impossible  to  obtain  anything  in  the  slightest 
degree  satisfactory  from  a  parley  with  the 
chief,  the  Captain  determined  to  take  him 
and  his  followers  prisoners.    Eight  men  cov- 


THE  MOVE  TO  SMOKY  RIVER.  73 

ered  them  with  their  guns,  while  they  were 
forced  to  give  up  their  arms.  As  soon  as  the 
one  in  the  ravine  saw  what  had  taken  place, 
he  made  a  bolt  of  it,  keeping  himself  covered 
by  the  rocks  in  the  defile  as  long  as  he  could, 
and  then  hurrying  away  at  full  gallop  to  the 
hill,  behind  which  the  band  of  Indians  were 
waiting. 

As  the  Indians  were  greatly  superior  in 
numbers,  equally  well  armed,  and,  moreover, 
held  much  the  advantage  in  position,  the 
captain  of  the  soldiers,  after  some  little 
deliberation,  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it 
would  be  imprudent,  not  to  say  foolhardy, 
to  attack  them  where  they  were;  so  he  en- 
deavored, by  all  sorts  of  artifices,  to  induce 
them  to  abandon  their  intrenched  position, 
but  the  wily  savages  refused  to  be  inveigled, 
and  obstinately  held  their  ground. 

The  Captain  did  not  dare  to  order  his  men 
to  fire  upon  them  at  random,  as  they  had 
with  them  two  German  girls,  whom  they  had 
abducted  some  time  before,  after  murdering 
the  rest  of  the  family,  and  he  knew  that,  at 


74 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


that  distance,  a  bullet  was  quite  as  likely 
to  strike  them  as  an  Indian.  So,  after 
some  further  maneuvering,  which  was 
equally  fruitless,  he  decided,  with  great  re- 
luctance, that  it  would  be  best  to  return 
with  the  four  prisoners  to  Fort  Wallace, 
report  the  state  of  the  case  to  the  post  com- 
mander, and  leave  him  to  deal  with  the 
situation  as  he  should  deem  best. 

The  four  Indians  were,  accordingly,  placed 
under  a  strong  guard  •  behind  the  wagons, 
and  the  march  back  was  begun.  The  cold 
was  intense;  a  keen,  raw,  bitter  wind  swept 
over  the  prairie,  each  blast  of  which  seemed 
to  freeze  the  very  marrow  in  the  bones  of  the 
shivering  soldiers.  Although  they  had  over- 
coats, overshoes,  and  mittens,  more  than  one 
finger,  ear,  or  nose  was  frozen  before  the  ride 
was  over.  The  power  of  endurance  exhibited 
by  the  Indians,  who  were  half  naked,  during 
this  trying  journey  to  the  fort,  struck 
Youngblood  as  little  short  of  marvelous,  and 
filled  him  with  amazement.  They  really  did 
not  seem  to  suffer  at  all  from  the  piercing 


THE  MOVE  TO  SMOKY  RIVER.  75 

cold,  and  they,  too,  were  under  the  disad- 
vantage of  being  compelled  to  ride  all  the 
way,  while  the  white  men  could  dismount 
from  time  to  time,  and,  by  tramping  about, 
stir  their  sluggish  blood  into  circulation 
once  more. 

When  the  fort  was  finally  reached,  the 
post  doctor,  who  examined  the  red-skins, 
declared  that  their  exposure  to  the  cold  had 
not  harmed  them  in  the  slightest  degree, 
and  this,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  their 
feet  were  covered  with  moccasins  only  and 
that  they  had  very  little  clothing  on  their 
bodies. 

Just  before  the  fort  was  reached,  one  of  the 
prisoners  made  a  sudden  dash  to  escape,  and 
would  have  succeeded  in  doing  so  had  not  a 
shot  brought  him  down.  The  others  were 
turned  over  to  Colonel  Hanbright,  the  com- 
mander. 

Youngblood  did  not  remain  with  the 
troops  long  enough  to  know  the  ultimate  fate 
of  the  rascals,  or  whether  any  further  at- 
tempt was  made  to  punish  the  rest  of  the 


76  A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 

band  and  rescue  the  German  girls  in  their 
hands,  for  he  happened  to  fall  in  with  a 
man  named  Riley,  who  owned  a  good  team 
of  horses,  and  was  anxious  to  have  some 
shooting.  Youngblood,  therefore,  formed  a 
combination  with  him,  and  forthwith  started 
out  on  another  hunt. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


GREAT  LUCK — RED-SKINS  AGAIN — SOME  OF 
THEM  DIE  SUDDENLY — A  GHASTLY  BELT — 
HOW  THE  INDIANS  CONDUCT  BUFFALO- 
HUNTS — THE  DELIGHTS  OF  BEING  A  SQUAW 
— INDIAN  TORTURE,  ETC. 

For  about  four  weeks  Youngblood  and 
his  new  companion  hunted  the  buffalo  with 
unvarying  success,  killing  and  drying  during 
this  time  over  100. 

After  this  the  game  migrated  and  moved 
about  100  miles  east  to  the  heads  of  several 
streams,  viz.:  Saline,  Sappy,  Prairie  Dog, 
Beaver,  and  Big  Timber.  Our  hunters  fol- 
lowed them,  and  secured  great  numbers. 

Here  they  chanced  to  meet  three  other 
men,  who  joined  them,  increasing  their  num- 
ber to  five. 

One  day  they  took  the  team  and  sallied 
forth  after  buffalo,  leaving  one  of  their  num- 
ber to  guard  the  camp  and  smoke  the  meat. 

(77) 


78 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


He  had  wandered  out  a  little  distance  to  col- 
lect firewood,  and  hearing  a  noise  in  the 
camp  he  hurried  back,  supposing  that  his 
friends  had  returned,  and  wondering  what 
could  have  caused  them  to  come  back  in  such 
a  very  short  time.  But,  instead  of  the  hunt- 
ers, what  was  his  horror  and  amazement  to 
stumble  upon  fourteen  red-skins,  who  were 
busily  employed  in  appropriating  everything 
that  was  within  their  reach.  They  had  capt- 
ured his  gun,  and  the  moment  he  appeared 
they  fired  upon  him,  but  fortunately  with- 
out touching  him.  The  man,  taken  by  sur- 
prise as  he  was,  ran  for  dear  life.  Several  of 
the  thieves  started  after  him  and  pursued 
him  into  a  ravine. 

He  knew  the  direction  the  hunting-party 
had  taken,  and  recognized  that  his  only  hope 
was  in  overtaking  them.  Luckily  they  had 
not  gone  far  from  camp,  and  as  soon  as 
the  red -skins  perceived  them,  they  stopped 
short  in  the  pursuit  of  their  intended  victim 
and  beat  a  hasty  retreat.  They  probably 
did  not  think  it  wise  to  return  to  the  camp, 


GREAT  LUCK. 


79 


but  joined  the  rest  of  the  band  on  Sappy 
River,  where  the  next  day,  as  Youngblood 
graphically  put  it,  thirty-seven  of  them 
"  died  very  suddenly."  One  of  the  Indians 
that  met  this  sad  fate  was  a  chief.  After  the 
fight  was  over,  while  they  were  examining 
the  bodies,  one  of  the  white  hunters  discov- 
ered a  sort  of  roll  tied  to  this  chiefs  side. 
He  unloosened  it,  and,  holding  it  up  in 
bewilderment,  asked  his  friends  what  it 
could  be.  They  examined  it,  and  discovered, 
to  their  horrified  indignation,  that  it  was  a 
dressed  buckskincape,  profusely  ornamented 
with  white  women's  scalps. 

This  is  only  one  example  out  of  many  simi- 
lar incidents,  and  yet  there  are  still  to  be 
found  many  people  who  exclaim  in  their 
mingled  sentimentality  and  ignorance,  1  'Alas! 
the  poor  Indian!"  and  bestow  upon  him  any 
amount  of  misplaced  pity,  which  is  painfully 
absurd  to  anyone  who  has  known  intimately 
the  object  of  their  solicitude. 

Any  old  scout  will  tell  you  that  his 
acquaintance  with  our  "red  brother"  does 


80  A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 

not  reveal  in  him  any  trait  of  either  character 
or  disposition  which  is  in  any  degree  worthy 
of  respect.  It  is,  of  course,  beyond  question 
a  fact  that  he  has  been  at  times  maltreated, 
but  this  is  no  reason  why  we  shorJd  be 
blinded  to  what  he  really  is — naturally  lazy, 
cruel,  and  vindictive,  and  a  perfect  type  of 
treachery,  never  acting  in  good  faith,  except 
when  he  knows  it  is  for  his  own  advantage 
to  do  so.  Mercy  is  a  virtue  of  which  the 
Indian  has  not  the  faintest  conception,  and 
the  truth  is  never  known  to  fall  from  his  lips 
when  a  lie  can  be  made  to  answer.  In  two 
words,  he  can  only  be  described  as  a  verita- 
ble demon,  who  has  no  humane  sentiment, 
who  will  spare  nothing,  neither  age  nor  sex, 
who  scorns  all  law,  and  whose  chief  delight 
is  to  ruthlessly  murder,  burn,  and  ravage. 

The  little  scrimmage  narrated  above  oc- 
curred in  April,  1876,  and  until  the  fall  of 
the  same  year,  Youngblood  and  his  friends 
hunted  peacefully  without  any  further  mo- 
lestation from  the  red  devils,  who  for  a  long 
time  had  a  salutary  and  terrifying  remem- 


GEE  AT  LUCK. 


81 


brance  of  the  white  man's  long-range  repeat- 
ing rifles. 

During  this  summer,  a  band  of  Ute 
Indians  came  on  a  hunting  expedition  into 
the  neighborhood  where  Youngblood  was, 
and  he  had  an  excellent  opportunity  of 
observing  their  manner  of  hunting  and  kill- 
ing the  buffalo. 

The  first  thing  they  do  is  to  select  a  place 
for  a  camp,  if  possible  near  some  stream,  so 
as  to  be  within  easy  distance  of  fuel  and 
water.  The  site  once  chosen,  the  squaws, 
who  are  invariably  compelled  to  perform  all 
the  drudgery,  proceed  to  unpack  the  goods 
and  chattels,  put  up  the  tents,  care  for  the 
horses,  draw  water,  collect  firewood,  and,  in 
fact,  make  things  comfortable  generally  for 
their  lords  and  masters,  who  meanwhile  loll 
luxuriously  upon  the  grass  in  some  shady 
place,  and  smoke  their  pipes  in  full  ease  and 
contentment  of  mind  and  body.  When  the 
camp  is  all  in  order,  one  Indian  is  sent  out 
to  seek  for  a  herd  of  buffalo,  and  when  he 
has  found  one,  he  returns  to  camp  and 

6 


82 


A  MIGHTY  HUJSTER. 


reports  his  success.  Then  the  squaws  make 
ready  the  horses,  the  men  and  boys  mount 
their  ponies,  and  the  procession  is  formed, 
the  women  bringing  up  the  rear,  driving  the 
pack-horses,  and  furnished  with  knives,  with 
which  to  dress  the  game  that  the  men  kill. 

A  band  of  Indians  mounted  and  equipped 
for  a  buffalo-chase  presents  a  decidedly 
unique  and  interesting  appearance.  Their 
ponies  are  scrawny  looking  little  things,  and 
many  of  them  are  so  small  that  the  feet  of 
the  rider  nearly  reach  the  ground.  In  spite 
of  his  size  and  appearance,  however,  the 
pony  is  by  no  means  to  be  despised;  there 
are  emphatically,  to  use  an  expressive  vul- 
garism, no  flies  upon  him;  he  makes  up  in 
grit  and  endurance  for  his  lack  of  beauty, 
and  he  will  carry  a  rider  or  a  heavy  pack 
much  farther  in  a  day  than  an  ordinary  horse 
could  possibly  do.  The  Indian  saddle  is  a 
mechanical  curiosity.  It  is  manufactured  of 
two  forked  sticks,  one  behind  and  one  before, 
held  apart  by  two  pieces  of  board,  one  on 
either  side,  and  with  straps  of  buckskin  run- 


GREAT  LUCK. 


83 


ning  lengthwise;  the  boards  are  placed  below 
the  sticks,  and  rest  upon  the  horse's  back, 
while  the  buckskin  straps  are  on  top,  form- 
ing a  comfortable  seat  for  the  cavalier.  Still, 
although  this  saddle  is  an  easy  one  for  the 
rider,  it  is  frequently  severe  on  the  pony, 
for  the  boards  are  generally  very  roughly 
finished,  and  it  is  no  unusual  thing  to  see 
the  pony's  back  so  lacerated  by  them  that 
the  bone  is  in  places  perfectly  bare  and 
exposed.  This  is  of  no  consequence  to  the 
Indian,  however,  for  he  shows  no  more  mercy 
to  his  horse  than  he  does  to  his  squaw,  and 
so  long  as  he  rides  comfortably  it  is  a  matter 
of  supreme  indifference  to  him  what  his  pony 
may  be  suffering,  and  he  will  even  beat  him 
for  flinching  and  " giving  down"  under  the 
pain  inflicted  by  one  of  these  instruments  of 
torture. 

A  vast  deal  of  importance  is  attached  to 
the  ceremonies  which  are  gone  through  with 
to  propitiate  Fortune  and  bring  good  luck  to 
the  chase;  and,  to  a  person  who  sees  them 
for  the  first  time,  the  performance  of  these 


84 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


rites  is  almost  as  much  of  a  sight  as  a  first- 
class  circus.  As  soon  as  they  get  as  close  to 
a  herd  as  they  deem  it  safe,  they  dismount 
and  begin  the  performance,  which  consists  of 
a  vast  deal  of  tomfoolery.  When  a  white 
man  has  discovered  his  herd,  he  pitches  right 
in  and  gets  down  to  business  at  once,  but 
nothing  could  induce  an  Indian  to  fire  a  shot 
until  he  has  religiously  gone  through  with 
each  one  of  the  rites  suitable  to  the  occasion, 
and  which  are  his  inheritance  from  time 
immemorial.  He  falls  upon  his  knees  and 
repeats  long  prayers,  invoking  the  aid  of  the 
deity  of  the  chase;  then  follows  an  exceed- 
ingly polite  address  to  the  buffalo,  in  which 
it  is  told  that  if  it  will  be  so  kind  as  not  to 
run  away,  it  shall  receive  some  tobacco,  a 
piece  of  which  each  Indian  forthwith  buries 
in  the  ground;  he  then  pulls  his  horse's  tail, 
whispers  in  its  ear,  and  ties  eagle  feathers  in 
its  tail  to  lend  it  speed.  Sometimes  a  dog  is 
killed,  cooked,  and  eaten.  After  all  this  and 
frequently  much  more  has  been  gone  through 
with,  and  a  certainty  of  good  luck  thereby 


GEE  AT  LUCK. 


85 


secured,  the  hunters  mount  their  ponies  and 
speed  off  to  the  herd,  which,  if  not  frightened 
away  by  the  powwow,  has  ail  this  time  been 
quietly  grazing  on  the  prairie.  As  soon  as 
the  foe  appears  bearing  down  upon  them, 
however,  the  buffalo  take  the  alarm,  and,  in 
their  affright,  very  frequently  rush  in  a  mass 
directly  toward  the  hunters;  but  when  within 
a  short  distance,  they  stop  short,  turn  sud- 
denly, and  dash  away  with  a  deafening  bel- 
lowing in  the  opposite  direction. 

The  moment  the  buffalo  turn  is  the  signal 
for  the  attack,  and  immediately  the  Indians, 
with  the  wildest  of  yells  imaginable,  bear 
down  upon  them  with  bows  and  arrows, 
spears  and  guns,  and  the  slaughter  com- 
mences. Those  who  have  guns  ride  to  one 
side  of  the  fleeing  herd,  and  keeping  parallel 
to  them,  load  and  fire  as  fast  as  they  can, 
bringing  down  a  buffalo  at  almost  every  shot; 
at  the  same  time  those  with  spears  and  simi- 
lar weapons  ride  directly  into  the  midst  of 
the  herd,  and  forcing  their  ponies  almost 
against  one  of  the  animals,  thrust  their  spears 


86 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTEK. 


into  some  vital  part.  Those  with  bows  and 
arrows  also  dash  into  the  herd,  and  drop- 
ping the  bridles,  allow  their  ponies  to  follow 
their  own  heads,  while  they  make  use  of  both 
hands,  shooting  arrows  first  into  one  buffalo 
and  then  another.  These  arrows,  three  or 
four  of  which  are  shot  into  each  animal,  are 
generally  tipped  with  pieces  of  saw-blade,  on 
the  edges  of  which  is  cut  a  fine  beard,  which 
causes  them  to  work  inward  as  the  animal 
runs.  The  slaughter  is  often  kept  up  until 
every  one  of  the  herd  is  slain.  In  the  hunt 
which  Youngblood  had  the  good  fortune  to 
witness,  110  were  killed  in  a  space  of  some- 
thing less  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour. 

When  the  hunt  is  over,  the  squaws  pro- 
ceed to  dress  the  meat  and  pack  it  upon  the 
horses,  while  the  men  enjoy  a  siesta,  smok- 
ing, laughing,  and  boasting  of  their  various 
exploits.  When  everything  is  ready  for 
departure,  the  men  mount  their  ponies  and 
ride  gaily  back  to  camp,  the  women  follow- 
ing more  slowly,  driving  the  horses,  which 
have  been  laden  with  the  flesh  and  hides. 


GREAT  LUCK. 


87 


Though  it  is  the  custom  of  the  Indians  to 
use  arrows  with  bearded  tips  for  hunting 
purposes,  they  employ  an  entirely  different 
one  when  on  the  war-path.  This  latter 
species  they  poison  in  some  way,  so  that  they 
are  almost  certain  to  cause  death,  or,  at  all 
events,  to  make  a  very  ugly  sore.  It  is  said 
that  the  method  is  to  take  a  piece  of  meat, 
and  by  goading  a  rattlesnake  to  anger,  cause 
it  to  drive  its  fangs  into  the  meat,  and  thereby 
impregnate  it  with  its  venom.  The  meat  is 
then  left  to  putrefy  and  become  thoroughly 
permeated  with  the  poison,  and  the  arrows 
are  then  plunged  into  the  deadly  mass. 
These  poisoned  arrows  are  kept  carefully 
apart  from  those  destined  for  hunting  pur- 
poses. 

The  wars  between  the  different  Indian 
tribes  are  almost  incessant,  and  more  of  them 
are  killed  in  this  way  than  by  white  men. 
In  their  wars  with  each  other  the  most  ter- 
rible ferocity  and  most  relentless  cruelty 
are  exhibited,  and  those  that  are  taken  pris- 
oners are  invariably  put  to  the  torture. 


88 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


One  of  Youngblood's  friends,  named  Van 
Meter,  once  witnessed  this  torture  of  pris- 
oners, while  among  the  Ogallah-Sionx 
Indians,  and  his  description  of  it  is  most 
appalling. 

The  Ogallahs  were  on  the  war-path,  and 
one  day,  in  a  slight  skirmish  with  the  Crows, 
they  succeeded  in  taking  one  of  the  latter 
captive,  a  warrior  about  twenty  years  of  age. 
Preparations  were  at  once  made  for  the 
administration  of  the  torture.  The  young 
Crow  was  first  stripped  and  bound  to  a 
wagon- wheel,  while  a  large  pine  plank  was 
shaved  into  small  splinters.  An  Ogallah 
warrior  was  then  selected  as  executioner,  and 
the  rest  prepared  to  perform  the  war-dance 
about  their  victim.  The  one  chosen  to  apply 
the  torture  took  a  knife,  and  taking  up  a 
piece  of  the  prisoner's  flesh  between  his 
thumb  and  finger,  cut  a  deep  gash  in  it,  and 
thrust  into  the  wound  thus  made  a  bunch 
of  pine  splinters,  which  he  then  set  on  fire 
and  allowed  to  burn  out.  As  soon  as  one 
set  of  splinters  had  died  out,  another  was 


GREAT  LUCK. 


89 


inserted  as  before,  but  in  a  fresh  gash.  This 
was  continued  until  the  miserable  youth's 
skin  was  burned  to  a  crisp  all  over  his  body. 
Notwithstanding  the  intolerable  agony  he 
must  have  suffered,  he  never  uttered  a  cry, 
nor  exhibited  any  signs  of  pain,  but,  to  all 
intents  and  purposes,  appeared  more  uncon- 
cerned than  most  people  would  in  simply 
witnessing  such  torture.  While  this  was 
going  on,  the  Ogallahs  kept  up  an  incessant 
weird  and  unearthly  dance,  circling  round 
and  round  about  their  victim  with  fiendish 
yells  and  cries,  and  every  now  and  then  mak- 
ing as  if  to  strike  him  with  their  spears  and 
tomahawks.  When  his  flesh  was  completely 
charred,  and  he  was  almost  dead,  he  was 
tomahawked  and  scalped.  Horrible  as  this 
whole  description  sounds,  the  proceeding  is 
of  very  frequent  occurrence  among  the 
Indians.  In  this  respect  they  are  apt  to  be 
more  cruel  toward  each  other  than  toward 
the  whites,  although  more  than  one  innocent 
white  man  has  suffered  terrible  torture  at 
their  cruel  hands. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  LEGEND  '  OF  THE  "  WHITE  WOMAN"  — 
A  NIGHT  WITH  WOLVES — BLACK-TAILED 
DEER — PANTHERS  AND  MOUNTAIN  LIONS — 
BACK  TO  THE  PLAINS. 

Youngblood's  next  camping-place  was 
Silver  Lake,  situated  in  a  large  canebrake 
near  the  head  of  Pawnee  River,  between  that 
stream  and  ' '  White  Woman ' '  Creek.  He 
was  absolutely  forced  from  his  former  hunt- 
ing-grounds, because  the  Indians  had  chased 
all  the  buffalo  away.  It  is  no  uncommon 
thing  for  them  to  drive  them,  on  horseback, 
as  far  as  200  miles. 

"  White  Woman"  Creek,  his  new  stamp- 
ing-ground, was  named  by  the  Indians,  and, 
as  usual  with  Indian  nomenclature,  had  a 
real  reason  for  its  title.  Some  years  pre- 
vious, a  woman  named  Harn  was  captured 
by  the  Indians,  and  taken  away  prisoner. 
During  the  course  of  their  journey  they 

(91) 


92 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


camped  for  a  night  on  the  banks  of  this 
creek,  but  before  they  left  the  next  morn- 
ing they  outraged  the  poor  woman,  drove  a 
stake  through  her  body,  and  left  her  there; 
hence  the  name  of  the  stream.  It  is  some- 
times called  "  Suffering  Woman; "  and  in  an 
account  of  a  fight  which  Colonel  Lewis  had 
with  the  Indians  on  this  creek,  in  which 
Lewis  and  five  of  his  men  were  killed,  it  is 
called  "  Spanish  Woman,"  but  among  all 
frontiersmen  it  is  known  as  ' '  White 
Woman.55 

Between  Pawnee  River  and  "  White 
Woman"  Creek  was  a  long  extent  of  very 
flat,  low  country,  full  of  large  lakes  and 
dense  canebrakes.  In  his  camp  at  Silver 
Lake,  Youngblood  was  entirely  alone.  He 
had  brought  no  one  with  him,  and  his  only 
company  in  the  midst  of  the  big,  dreary 
swamp,  were  buffalo  and  antelope  by  day, 
and  at  night  wolves,  who  evinced  a  much 
stronger  predilection  for  the  hunters  society 
than  he  did  for  theirs.  The  wolves  had  been 
in  the  habit  of  subsisting  chiefly  upon  the 


LEGEND  OF  THE  "  WHITE  WOMAN."  93 


carcasses  of  the  buffalo  left  by  the  hunters, 
who  had  killed  them  for  their  hides;  and  as 
it  was  now  late  in  October,  and  no  hunters 
had  been  in  the  locality  for  some  time,  the 
wolves  had  become  fierce  and  ravenous,  and 
were  ready  to  attack  anything — horses,  and 
even  men. 

One  day  Youngblood  had  been  out  hunt- 
ing, and  had  succeeded,  after  a  long  day's 
tramp,  in  killing  one  buffalo  late  in  the  after- 
noon. As  it  was  rapidly  growing  dark,  and 
as  there  was  danger  of  his  losing  his  way  if 
he  attempted  to  find  his  camp,  he  determined 
to  remain  where  he  was  for  the  night.  He 
moved  his  wagon  close  to  where  the  buffalo 
lay,  made  his  bed  upon  the  ground,  and 
spread  the  hide  of  the  buffalo  over  him,  with 
the  wooly  side  down.  He  had  hardly  closed 
his  eyes,  however,  before  the  wolves,  at- 
tracted by  the  scent  of  the  freshly  killed 
meat,  began  gathering  from  all  the  neighbor- 
ing thickets.  They  soon  devoured  the  buf- 
falo, with  low  growlings  and  sharp  cracklings 
of  their  teeth,  which  were  anything  but 


94 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


pleasant  sounds  to  the  recumbent  hunter, 
who  began  to  think  that  they  might  make 
their  dessert  off  of  him.  His  gun  was  in  the 
wagon,  and  he  did  not  dare  to  rise  and  make 
the  attempt  to  possess  himself  of  it.  Some 
of  the  wolves  became  so  bold  that  they  vent- 
ured close  to  where  he  lay,  and  began  to  pull 
and  tug  at  the  hide  which  served  him  as  a 
quilt.  This  was  decidedly  alarming,  but  by 
singing  and  shouting  he  managed  to  frighten 
them  away,  until,  gorged  by  their  meal,  they 
decided  to  leave  him  in  peace. 

Youngblood  remained  at  Silver  Lake  for 
about  a  month,  meeting  with  very  fair  suc- 
cess as  regards  the  amount  of  game  killed, 
but  finding  it  very  diffi  cult  to  obtain  a  market 
for  the  meat.  After  being  alone  all  this 
time,  he  fell  in  with  a  man  named  Fred  Arm- 
strong, who  declared  that  he  was  a  "  regular 
world-beater"  at  killing  buffalo  and  deer, 
and  urged  his  new  acquaintance  to  go  back 
with  him  into  the  mountains,  which  he  said 
were  teeming  with  black-tailed  deer.  Young- 
blood  finally  allowed  himself  to  be  persuaded, 


LEGEND  OF  THE  "  WHITE  WOMAJNT."  95 

although  this  necessitated  a  journey  of  over 
200  miles.  Their  way  lay  through  a  barren 
sort  of  country  where  game  was  very  scarce, 
and  their  stock  of  provisions,  of  which  they 
had  taken  only  a  scanty  supply,  got  so  low 
that  the  question  of  subsistence  soon  became 
a  very  serious  one.  Although  there  was  no 
game,  there  was  plenty  of  cattle  about 
belonging  to  the  different  ranches;  and  finally, 
in  despair,  Armstrong  declared  that  he  was 
going  to  shoot  a  calf,  and  selected  a  yearling 
which  had  become  separated  from  the  herd. 
Before  he  could  raise  his  gun,  however,  three  • 
cow-boys  suddenly  appeared  around  a  little 
hillock. 

* '  Good  Lord ! ' 5  whispered  Armstrong, 
"I'm  glad  I  didn't  shoot,  for  they  would 
have  been  onto  us  before  the  calf  had  quit 
kicking." 

Luckily  for  him,  however,  the  cow-boys  did 
not  guess  his  intentions,  but  rode  along  with 
the  two  hunters  to  a  spring,  near  which  they 
said  there  were  plenty  of  deer  to  be  found. 

Here  they  camped  for  the  night,  and  the 


96 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER, 


next  morning,  early,  before  his  companion 
was  up,  Youngblood  started  forth  with  his 
gun  to  try  his  luck. 

He  had  not  gone  more  than  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  before  he  saw  that  the  cow-boys  had 
spoken  the  truth;  there  were  plenty  of  tracks, 
and  he  at  once  began  to  keep  a  sharp  look- 
out for  deer. 

Stealing  cautiously  up  a  hill,  he  peered 
over  the  top,  and,  to  his  immense  satisfaction 
and  delight,  saw  four  deer  '  walking  single 
file  along  a  cow-path.  He  aimed  at  the  fore- 
most one,  which  was  a  fine  doe,  and  at  the 
crack  of  his  gun  she  sank  to  the  ground,  and 
the  second  and  third  followed  in  quick  suc- 
cession, each  brought  down  by  a  single  shot. 
The  fourth  was  a  lordly  buck,  which  came 
running  up  the  bluff  to  the  spot  where  the 
hunter  was;  but  the  latter  was  ready  for  him, 
and  once  more  uold  poison-slinger  "  got  in 
its  work. 

As  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  transport 
the  booty  himself,  Youngblood  returned  to 
the  camp,  where  Armstrong  still  lay  in  the 


LEGEND  OF  THE  "  WHITE  WOMAN."  97 

arms  of  Morpheus.  He  did  not  awaken  him, 
but,  taking  a  horse,  went  back  to  where  the 
deer  were  and  loaded  three  of  them  on  its 
back. 

On  his  way  back  he  met  Armstrong,  who 
rubbed  his  eyes  in  amazement,  saying: 
"  Hello!  If  that's  your  way  of  doing  things, 
I  guess  I'll  have  to  go  back  on  what  I  said 
about  being  a  world-beater."  But  when  he 
heard  that  there  was  a  big  buck  besides,  he 
began  to  think  that  Youngblood  knew  some- 
thing about  hunting,  too,  and  he  acknowl- 
edged that  he  had  been  gotten  ahead  of  in 
great  shape,  and  he  would  have  to  yield  his 
title  to  his  companion. 

The  two  men  remained  together  for  some- 
thing over  two  months,  and  as  during  that 
time  Youngblood  averaged  about  six  deer 
to  Armstrong's  one,  he  ceased  to  take  any 
stock  in  the  latter' s  claim  to  be  a  "  world- 
beater."  The  opinion  of  each  as  to  the 
other's  prowess  received  a  rather  amusing 
illustration  during  the  stay  of  a  visitor  they 
happened  to  have  at  the  camp.  This  visitor, 

7 


98 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


in  the  course  of  conversation  with  Arm- 
strong, happened  to  ask  him  what  sort  of  a 
hunter  Yonngblood  was.  Armstrong's  reply 
was  that  he  was  a  poor  shot,  but  the  luckiest 
killer  he  ever  saw  in  his  life.  A  short  time 
afterward  he  went  to  Youngblood  and  asked 
his  opinion  of  Armstrong.  "Well,"  was 
the  response,  "he  is  a  first-rate  hunter,  but 
about  the  worst  killer  that  I  was  ever  ac- 
quainted with."  At  this  the  visitor  laughed 
heartily,  in  which  merriment  he  was  joined 
by  the  other  two,  as  soon  as  its  cause  was 
explained. 

But  it  was  not  long  before  Youngblood 
found  that,  in  addition  to  the  deer,  there 
were,  in  the  mountains,  other  and  much 
more  formidable  animals,  panthers  and 
mountain  lions,  which,  in  fact,  are  almost 
always  to  be  met  with  in  places  frequented 
by  deer,  on  which  they  chiefly  subsist.  Their 
plan  of  stalking  their  game  is  to  climb  a  tree 
which  has  a  limb  extending  over  some  path 
used  by  the  deer,  or  to  conceal  themselves 
behind  something  near  this  path,  and  then, 


LEGEND  OF  THE  "  WHITE  WOMAN."  99 


when  the  deer  passes  under  or  near  them, 
they  spring  upon  and  kill  it.  The  blood 
they  are  particularly  fond  of,  and  they  com- 
monly tear  open  the  throats  of  the  victims, 
and  eagerly  lap  up  the  fluid  as  it  flows  warm 
from  the  veins.  They  eat  the  flesh  also,  and 
are  so  strong  that  they  can  carry  away  a 
full-sized  deer. 

Youngblood  one  day  fired  at  and 
wounded  a  deer;  but  as  he  was  pursuing  it, 
he  came  upon  a  large  drove,  so  he  concluded 
to  leave  the  wounded  one  and  come  back  and 
seek  for  it  later.  This,  however,  he  was 
unable  to  do  until  the  next  morning,  and 
taking  up  the  trail  where  he  had  left  it  the 
previous  day,  he  had  only  followed  it  for  a 
short  distance  when  he  came  to  a  place 
where  he  perceived  unmistakable  evidences 
of  a  desperate  struggle.  After  a  careful 
examination,  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  wounded  deer  had  been  attacked  and  car- 
ried off  by  some  animal  or  other.  Curious  to 
know  more  about  it,  he  continued  to  follow 
the  trail,  which  was  by  no  means  a  difficult 


100 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


thing  to  do,  as  the  hair  of  the  deer  had  been 
rubbed  off  against  the  stones  and  twigs,  and 
everywhere  there  were  fresh  traces  of  blood. 
When  he  had  proceeded  about  half  a  mile, 
he  stumbled  upon  the  entrails  of  the  deer 
lying  upon  the  ground.  To  his  astonish- 
ment, these  entrails  were  not  torn  to  pieces, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  were  entire,  as  if  some 
skillful  hunter  had  cut  them  out  with  his 
knife.  He  then  began  to  look  cautiously 
around  to  discover  the  cause  of  this  phenom- 
enon, when  suddenly,  just  in  front  of  him, 
about  twenty  paces  off,  a  mountain  lion 
darted  into  view,  and,  before  he  had  time  to 
aim,  disappeared  into  a  neighboring  thicket. 
He  fired,  however,  but  apparently  without 
hitting  it,  for  there  was  no  result  but  a  loud 
roar,  and  the  crunching  of  the  branches  as  a 
heavy  body  passed  through  them.  He 
waited  for  some  time,  hoping  that  the  lion 
would  return;  but  in  this  he  was  disap- 
pointed, for  the  beast,  gorged  with  its  prey, 
had  probably  gone  off  into  the  thicket  for  an 
after-dinner  snooze. 


LEGEND  OF  THE  u  WHITE  WOMAN."  101 

Even  more  numerous  and  dangerous  than 
the  mountain  lions  are  the  panthers,  and 
when  there  was  fresh  meat  in  the  camp  they 
would  yell  frightfully  all  night  long.  To 
anyone  not  used  to  it,  their  screams  have  a 
horrible  sound,  and  are  a  most  effectual 
sleep-dispeller;  but  once  accustomed  to  it, 
Youngblood  found  that  he  paid  no  more 
attention  to  them  than, he  would  to  the  hoots 
of  the  night-owl  in  Indiana. 

Until  the  snow  began  to  melt,  and  the 
deer  to  disappear,  as  they  always  do  when 
the  snow  has  gone,  our  two  hunters  remained 
in  the  mountains.  As  Youngblood  did  not 
care  to  follow  the  migration  of  the  game,  he 
concluded  to  go  back  to  the  plains,  and  try 
his  luck  once  more  at  buffalo. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

BACK  TO  KANSAS— AT  ODDS— THE  BITER  BIT 
— EMIGRANTS  ON  A  HUNT — INDIANS,  NOT 
BUFFALO. 

After  the  deer  left  the  mountains,  Young- 
blood  went  back  to  Kansas,  about  200  miles 
east  on  the  Arkansas  River,  to  a  point  not 
far  from  the  head  of  Pawnee  River,  in 
Buffalo  County.  With  the  skill  he  had 
acquired,  he  could  now  kill  all  the  buffalo 
he  wanted  to,  so  he  needed  no  assistance  in 
that  way;  but  the  trouble  had  been  to  find 
a  means  to  get  the  meat  to  market.  He 
therefore  hired  three  men,  none  of  whom 
were  hunters,  to  transport  the  fruits  of  his 
rifle. 

They  took  up  their  quarters  on  Alkali 
Lake,  and  all  went  well  for  a  time.  But  it 
was  not  long  before  Youngblood  discovered 
that  his  three  men  were  not  destined  to  live 
in  amity  together;  in  fact,  there  were  only 

(103) 


104 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


too  unmistakable  signs  that  there  was  bad 
blood  between  them.  For  some  reason  or 
other,  two  of  them  evidently  bore  a  strong 
grudge  against  the  other,  and  were  continu- 
ally imposing  upon  him,  losing  no  oppor- 
tunity to  taunt  and  insult  him.  Things 
began  to  look  pretty  threatening,  when  a  cer- 
tain incident,  at  all  events,  prevented  the 
shedding  of  blood,  for  the  one  so  annoyed 
had  frequently  threatened  to  kill  the  other 
two,  and  had  even  asked  Youngblood  to 
lend  him  his  gun,  having  already  provided 
himself  with  cartridges. 

All  four  were  out  one  day,  when  they 
struck  a  large  herd  of  buffalo.  Foreseeing 
that  he  was  likely  to  have  severe  work 
ahead  of  him,  and  that  his  pocket-book  might 
get  lost,  Youngblood  handed  it  to  the  team- 
ster to  keep  for  him  until  the  hunt  should  be 
over.  The  man  and  the  pocket-book  he 
never  saw  again,  for  no  sooner  was  he  out  of 
his  sight  than  the  teamster  jumped  into  the 
wagon  and  drove  off.  When  Youngblood 
returned  to  camp  that  night,  and  found 


BACK  TO  KANSAS. 


105 


the  man  missing,  he  saw  at  once  what  it  all 
meant,  and  consulted  with  the  other  men. 
They  asked  to  be  allowed  to  take  another 
team  and  wagon,  and  to  go  in  pursuit  of  the 
fugitive.  To  this  their  master  finally  con- 
sented, and  drove  them  to  the  nearest  rail- 
way station.  They  formed  a  correct  guess 
as  to  the  direction  the  thief  was  likely  to 
take,  headed  him  off,  and  finally  captured 
him  and  took  him  to  Las  Animas,  in  Col- 
orado. Here  they  brought  him  before  a 
justice  of  the  peace,  and,  with  supreme  ef  - 
f rontery,  one  of  them  swore  that  the  team, 
which  really  belonged  to  the  runaway,  was 
his,  and  proved  it  by  the  affidavit  of  the 
other.  The  magistrate  remanded  the  pris- 
oner to  jail,  and  turned  over  the  horses  and 
wagon,  together  with  the  pocket-book,  to  his 
captors.  These  latter  returned  his  own 
property  to  Youngblood,  but  kept  the  team 
for  themselves,  while  they  left  the  thief  to 
languish  in  jail  until  his  case  was  called, 
when  he  was  discharged,  as  there  was  no  one 
to  appear  against  him. 


106 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTEK. 


Soon  after  this  incident,  Youngblood  went 
to  Sherlock  with  a  load  of  meat.  Here  he 
found  a  large  number  of  emigrants,  most  of 
whom  were  provided  with  good  teams,  and 
some  he  found  anxious  to  go  out  on  a  hunt. 
He  proposed  to  give  them  half  the  meat  if 
they  would  haul  it  in  to  market,  and  he  ex- 
perienced no  difficulty  in  finding  several 
persons  who  were  willing  to  accept  this  offer. 
So  he  started  out  with  three  teams,  ten 
men,  and  three  women,  all  inspired  with  the 
eager  desire  to  see  something  of  a  sort  of  life 
far  different  from  anything  to  which  they  had 
been  accustomed.  After  proceeding  for 
about  twenty-five  miles,  they  found  a  place 
to  camp  for  the  night,  and  while  the  men 
were  making  the  necessary  preparations  and 
the  women  busied  themselves  in  getting  sup- 
per, Youngblood  sallied  forth  and  shot  a 
buffalo.  The  whole  company  went  into 
ecstasies  over  the  tenderloins,  which  were 
soon  fried  and  ready  for  distribution. 

The  next  morning  they  moved  on,  as  the 
women  complained  of   the  alkali  water. 


BACK  TO  KANSAS. 


107 


When  they  reached  a  good  spring,  about  ten 
miles  off,  they  found,  camped  near  it,  a  band 
of  Indians,  who,  however,  fled  on  the  ap- 
proach of  the  white  men,  and  so  hastily  that 
they  left  their  meat  roasting  before  the  fire. 
In  spite  of  this,  however,  the  emigrants  were 
so  frightened  that  they  could  not  be  per- 
suaded to  remain  long  enough  to  get  a  drink, 
but,  wheeling  their  wagons  around,  they 
started  for  Sherlock  at  a  sweeping  trot, 
looking  around  every  few  minutes,  as  if  they 
expected  to  see  an  army  of  painted  demons 
thirsting  for  their  blood  and  hankering  for 
scalps.  Youngblood  was  so  disgusted  with 
them  that  he  made  little  effort  to  turn  them 
from  their  determination  or  pacify  their  silly 
fright,  but  let  them  continue  on  their  retreat 
to  Sherlock,  which  they  reached  in  safety, 
without  the  slightest  injury  to  any  of  them. 

Youngblood  did  not  remain  long  in  the 
town,  but,  in  company  with  another  man, 
went  off  to  his  old  hunting-ground,  the 
source  of  the  Pawnee  River.  While  here, 
they  were  driving  one  day  along  the  bank  of 


108 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


the  river,  where  the  bluffs  rose  beside  them 
to  a  considerable  height,  when,  on  looking 
over,  our  hunter  saw  something  which  he 
took  for  a  herd  of  buffalo  that  had  come 
down  to  the  water  to  drink.  He  jumped 
from  the  wagon,  and  ran  down  the  bluffs  to 
where  he  could  see  the  tops  of  their  humps. 
As  he  was  going  at  full  speed,  he  suddenly 
ran  into  a  gang  of  squaws,  who  were  guard- 
ing a  lot  of  horses.  He  then  recognized  that 
what  he  had  taken  for  buffalo  were  Indians, 
crawling  up  the  small  ridge  which  over- 
looked the  spot  where  he  was.  He  saw  that 
he  was  in  a  close  place,  and,  not  stopping  to 
ask  any  questions,  he  hurried  back  to  the 
wagon  and  informed  his  companion  of  what 
he  had  discovered.  The  latter  was  in  a  ter- 
rible fright,  and  asked  tremblingly  if  there 
was  any  danger  of  the  red-skins  coming  after 
them.  Youngblood,  who  had  had  too  many 
experiences  of  this  kind  to  feel  very  anxious, 
replied  coolly: 

6 '  Well,  if  they  do,  we  can  kill  as  many  of 
them  as  they  do  of  us." 


BACK  TO  KANSAS. 


109 


This  seemed  but  poor  consolation  to  the 
other,  however,  who  did  not  see  how  that 
would  be  any  comfort  to  a  dead  man. 

While  still  discussing  the  Indians,  a  herd 
of  buffalo  came  in  sight.  They  killed  four, 
and,  loading  the  meat  upon  the  wagon,  drove 
to  Pierceville,  the  nearest  station,  where 
they  found  a  company  of  soldiers,  who  had 
come  in  search  of  the  Indians  they  had  seen. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


THE  SOLDIERS'  LAGGING  CHASE  OF  INDIANS 
— ALL  DRESS -PARADE  AND  NO  SENSE — A 
GREENY  CATCHES  A  BUFFALO  CALF — "HELP 
ME  TO  LET  IT  GO." 

The  soldiers,  commanded  by  a  Captain 
Payne,  were  under  orders  to  overhaul  a 
band  of  eighty  Indians  who  were  reported  to 
have  crossed  the  Kansas  Pacific  Railroad, 
near  Monument  Station,  and  who  were  evi- 
dently bent  on  mischief.  As  soon  as  the  Cap- 
tain heard  that  a  hunter  had  arrived  in  town 
from  the  plains,  he  sent  for  Youngblood, 
and  the  following  colloquy  took  place: 

"Have  you  seen  any  Indians?" 

"  Yes,  a  large  band." 

"When?" 

"This  morning." 

"Where  were  they?" 

"Near  the  head  of  Pawnee  River." 
an) 


112 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


"  Will  you  go  with  us  and  help  us  find 
them?1' 

Youngblood  laughed. 

"  What  do  you  want  to  find  them  for?"  he 
asked.  ' c  Are  you  going  to  take  them  some 
blankets?" 

' '  No,  by  G— d, ' '  was  the  emphatic  response, 
"  I  am  not.  We  have  some  pills  for  them, 
and  if  you  are  a  good  hand  to  see  that  the 
medicine  is  properly  administered,  you  can 
have  a  chance.    Can  you  go?" 

Youngblood  considered  a  moment. 

u  Well,"  he  said  at  last,  "  there  is  nothing 
to  prevent  my  doing  so  that  I  know  of,  but  I 
am  getting  tired  of  chasing  Indians  under 
officers  who  won't  let  us  hurt  them  after 
we've  caught  them." 

"  Just  give  me  a  trial." 

"  Well,  if  you  will  promise  to  take  no  pris- 
oners and  not  let  one  of  them  escape,  I'll  go; 
but  if  there's  going  to  be  any  fooling  about 
it,  you  can  count  me  out." 

"All  right,"  said  the  Captain,  laughing. 
"Come  along!" 


SOLDIERS'   CHASE  OF  INDIANS.  113 

Orders  to  mount  were  at  once  given,  the 
start  was  soon  made,  and  within  four  hours 
they  reached  the  place  where  Youngblood 
had  seen  the  Indians.  They  had  departed, 
but  evidently  only  a  short  time  before,  as 
their  camp-fires  were  still  burning.  The  trail 
showed  that  they  had  gone  down  the  bed  of 
the  Pawnee  River.  It  still  wanted  two  hours 
to  sunset,  and  it  would  have  been  easy  to 
have  made  ten  or  twelve  miles  more  before 
darkness  set  in;  but,  to  Youngblood' s infinite 
disgust,  the  Captain,  after  surveying  the 
ground,  said:  "Well,  we  might  as  well  camp 
here  for  the  night,"  which  was  equivalent  to 
saying:  "  We  will  give  them  all  the  chance 
we  can  to  get  away." 

It  was  fully  10  o'  clock  the  next  morning 
before  the  Captain  was  ready  to  start,  and 
even  then  he  brought  his  men  out  on  dress- 
parade,  as  if  they  were  some  militia  regiment 
camping  out  for  the  fun  of  the  thing.  His 
command  consisted  of  two  companies,  who 
had  been  piloted  from  Fort  Wallace  by  an 
old  buffalo-hunter  named  Sam  Shrike,  a 

8 


114 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


good  man,  and  one  who  would  have  been  both 
able  and  willing  to  have  done  his  part,  if  the 
Captain  had  shown  more  sense  and  energy. 
There  were  also  a  train  of  four  six-horse 
teams,  an  ambulance,  and  a  surgeon.  The 
latter  called  forth  a  grim  smile  from  our  hero, 
as  he  did  not  see  any  chance  of  his  services 
being  called  into  requisition,  unless  one  of  the 
men  should  meet  with  some  accident  on  dress- 
parade. 

A  fresh  start  was  finally  made,  however, 
and  after  marching  down  the  river  bank  a 
few  miles  it  became  necessary  to  cross  to  the 
other  side,  which  caused  further  delay,  more 
than  four  hours  being  wasted  in  cutting  down 
the  banks  so  that  the  wagons  could  be  taken 
over.  But  a  short  distance  after  crossing 
the  river  they  came  to  a  spot  which  the  Cap- 
tain thought  would  make  a  good  place  to 
camp,  so  he  ordered  a  halt,  and  said,  as  they 
might  not  find  another  location  so  suitable  to 
their  purpose,  they  would  lay  off  there  for 
the  rest  of  the  day.  The  next  morning  there 
was  another  dress-parade,  and  the  sun  was 


SOLDIERS'  CHASE  OF  INDIANS.  115 

high  in  the  heavens  before  the  line  of  march 
was  resumed.  They  went  about  twenty  miles 
down  the  river,  and  crossed  back  at  the  mouth 
of  a  stream  called  Buckner  Creek,  where  they 
struck  a  beaver  dam,  where  the  water  was 
about  eight  feet  deep.  Here  one  of  the  sol- 
diers dismounted,  threw  out  a  fish-line,  and 
soon  caught  a  fine  lot  of  fish,  which  was  the 
occasion  of  great  excitement,  as  it  promised 
a  good  supper.  The  horses  were  turned 
loose,  and  the  troop  rested  until  noon  the 
next  day,  when,  after  the  customary  dress- 
parade,  the  Captain  directed  his  course  toward 
Port  Dodge,  which  was  reached  in  safety 
without  the  loss  of  a  man,  and  with  no  reason 
to  call  upon  the  services  of  either  surgeon  or 
ambulance.  Here,  after  four  days'  aimless 
journeying,  Youngblood  received  his  dis- 
charge, and  returned  to  Pierceville.  This 
Indian  chase  is  a  fair  sample  of  the  manner 
in  which  government  troops  are  in  the  habit 
of  hunting  red-skins.  One  old  hunter  is, 
every  time,  worth  more  than  a  dozen  sol- 
diers. 


116 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


On  his  return  to  Pierceville,  Youngblood 
found  that  one  of  his  horses  had  been  bitten 
by  a  snake  and  was  of  no  further  use,  but  he 
managed  to  find  among  the  emigrants  a  man 
who  owned  a  good  team  and  who  was  willing  to 
go  with  him.  This  man  was  about  fifty  years 
old,  and  had  never  seen  a  buffalo,  so  every- 
thing was  new  to  him,  and  all  that  he  saw 
filled  him  with  wonder.  The  first  night  they 
camped  near  the  head  of  the  Pawnee  River, 
and  the  next  morning  started  north  to  what 
is  known  as  Hackberry  Creek.  As  they  were 
driving  along,  toward  sundown,  Youngblood' s 
companion,  who  was  the  taller  of  the  two, 
suddenly  cried  out:  "Laws!  Look  there." 
Youngblood  rose  in  the  wagon,  and  was  not 
a  little  surprised  to  see,  just  on  the  other  side 
of  a  long,  low  ridge,  and  within  easy  gun- 
shot, a  herd  of  about  2,000  buffalo.  They 
were  grazing  quietly,  and  had  not  perceived 
the  approach  of  the  hunters.  Taking  his 
gun,  Youngblood  slipped  to  the  top  of  the 
ridge  and  fired  several  times,  killing  two. 
After  dressing  one,  he  went  to  the  other, 


SOLDIERS'  CHASE  OF  INDIANS.  117 

which  was  a  cow,  and  was  lying  about  a  hun- 
dred yards  from  the  first.  Her  calf  had  lain 
down  beside  her,  and  Youngblood  told  his 
man  to  slip  behind  the  cow  and  catch  it. 
"All  right,"  said  he;  "and  when  I  have 
gripped  it,  you  must  come  and  help  me." 
With  this  he  got  down  on  his  hands  and 
knees  and  crawled  up  close  to  the  dead  cow; 
but  the  calf  caught  sight  of  him,  and  getting 
up,  walked  round  the  cow  to  meet  him.  As 
the  calf  appeared,  he  lay  as  flat  on  the  ground 
as  he  could,  expecting  to  catch  it  as  soon  as 
it  came  within  reach;  but,  to  his  surprise  and 
consternation,  when  within  about  eight  feet 
of  him  it  suddenly  sprang  upon  him  and 
began  trampling  and  goring  him  in  a  most 
lively  manner.  The  calf  was  not  old  enough 
to  do  him  much  harm,  so  Youngblood,  who 
was  splitting  his  sides  with  laughter,  did  not 
interfere,  but  allowed  them  to  fight  it  out  by 
themselves.  The  man,  who  was  frightened 
almost  out  of  his  wits,  struggled  and  yelled 
for  help,  and  finally  managed  to  get  on  his 
feet,  and  ran  for  dear  life.   The  calf  followed 


118  A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


him  about  a  dozen  feet,  and  then  turned 
quietly  back  and  lay  down  again  by  the 
cow.  As  soon  as  Youngblood  could  restrain 
his  laughter,  he  took  the  case  in  hand,  and  the 
calf  was  soon  secured. 

The  next  morning  bright  and  early  they 
started  on  the  trail  of  the  herd,  and  about  10 
o'clock  they  came  in  sight  of  them  traveling 
westward  toward  Silver  Lake,  which  was 
about  twenty  miles  distant.  Until  about  2 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  they  followed  them 
with  the  wagon,  but  without  succeeding  in 
overtaking  them.  The  other  man  was  in 
despair,  but  Youngblood  told  him  that  he 
would  soon  manage  it,  and  forthwith  pro- 
ceeded to  mount  a  good  saddle-horse  they 
had  with  them.  Then,  telling  his  compan- 
ion to  follow  slowly  so  as  not  to  frighten  the 
buffalo,  he  galloped  off  to  one  side  of  the 
herd,  and  riding  through  a  deep  draw,  got 
ahead  of  them;  picketing  his  horse,  he  now 
lay  down  almost  in  their  course  and  waited. 
Not  until  they  were  within  thirty  yards  did 
he  open  fire,  but  when  he  did  it  was  with 


SOLDIERS'  CHASE  OF  INDIANS.  119 


good  effect^  and  by  the  time  his  partner 
came  up  he  had  killed  ten.  When  dressed, 
this  made  a  good  load,  and  the  hunters 
started  for  Pierceville,  and,  after  traveling 
all  night,  arrived  there  about  daylight.  The 
town  was  full  of  emigrants,  and  there  was 
no  trouble  in  disposing  of  the  meat  at  good 
prices. 


♦ 


CHAPTER  X. 


MEANNESS  WHICH  DID  NOT  PAY — TOO  CON- 
FIDENT HUNTERS  —  DANGERS  OF  THE 
PLAINS— BACK  TO  MISSOURI  ONCE  MORE. 

Some  of  the  emigrants,  however,  refused 
to  buy,  saying  that  it  was  cheaper  and  easier 
to  go  out  and  kill  their  own  meat.  The  old 
hunter  laughed  in  his  sleeve  as  he  saw  them 
cleaning  up  their  guns  preparatory  to  a 
grand  slaughter  of  the  unfortunate  buffalo, 
and  he  remarked  that  he  was  afraid  his  occu- 
pation would  be  gone,  as  it  appeared  as  if 
they  were  going  to  kill  off  all  the  game. 
The  emigrants  did  not  relish  his  joking  much, 
and  told  him  just  to  wait  until  they  returned. 

"  All  right,"  said  Youngblood,  good- 
naturedly;  "but  be  sure  and  take  plenty 
of  teams  to  bring  in  the  meat.  It  would  be 
a  pity  to  have  to  leave  it  to  rot  on  the  plains 
for  lack  of  transportation. " 

Shortly  after  their  departure,  Youngblood 

(121) 


122 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


left  Pierceville,  alone,  and  went  to  Alkali 
Lake,  fifteen  miles  from  the  head  of  the 
Pawnee  River.  While  driving  along  Dry 
Lake  he  saw  a  squad  of  men  about  a  mile 
off  in  the  basin  of  the  lake.  They  perceived 
him  at  the  same  time,  and  commenced  mak- 
ing signals  of  distress,  running  toward  him, 
waving  their  hats,  and  calling  on  him  to  stop. 
As  soon  as  they  were  near  enough  he  recog- 
nized his  old  friends,  the  emigrants,  who  had 
started  out  so  full  of  confidence  from  Pierce- 
ville. The  poor  fellows  were  in  a  sad  plight, 
as  they  were  almost  dying  from  thirst,  not 
having  seen  a  drop  of  water  for  three  days. 
Several  of  their  horses  had  given  out,  and 
they  had  been  digging  with  their  knives,  hop- 
ing to  strike  water  in  the  basin  of  Dry  Lake. 
Youngblood  could  not  help  pitying  them, 
although  they  had  been  mean  enough  to  run 
the  chance  of  losing  their  lives  on  the  un- 
known plains  rather  than  pay  him  a  few 
dollars,  and  he  took  them  to  a  spring  at  the 
foot  of  a  hill  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away, 
where  they  could  obtain  all  the  pure,  fresh 


MEANNESS  WHICH  DID  NOT  PAY.  123 


water  they  wanted.  They  were  half-starved 
as  well,  and  if  Youngblood  had  not  hap- 
pened along,  would  probably  have  perished. 
Men  who  are  unacquainted  with  the  plains 
have  no  business  upon  them  unaccompanied 
by  a  pilot.  There  is  no  lack  of  water,  for 
there  are  plenty  of  springs  that  never  go 
dry;  but  to  one  who  is  not  acquainted  with 
their  location  it  is  a  difficult  matter  to  find 
them,  and  a  person  may  suffer  horribly  from 
thirst,  and  perhaps  even  die  within  a  few 
steps  of  water.  Another  reason  why  a  pilot 
is  indispensable  is  that  the  novice,  not  know- 
ing how  to  hunt  or  where  to  look  for  game, 
might  wander  for  weeks  and  never  see  a 
buffalo,  or  if  he  should  stumble  upon  a  herd, 
the  chances  are  that  if  left  to  himself  he 
would  not  be  able  to  kill  a  single  one.  Then, 
most  emigrants,  and  people  who  come  from 
the  East  to  hunt  on  the  plains,  are  armed 
with  squirrel  rifles  and  shot-guns,  which  are 
of  no  possible  use  in  hunting  big  game. 
Therefore,  for  one's  own  convenience  and 
safety,  even,  it  is  the  wisest  thing  to  do  to 


124 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


hire  a  pilot,  even  if  his  pay  is  $5  a  day. 
Shortly  after  this,  Youngblood  concluded 
to  return  to  Missouri  and  spend  a  few  weeks 
with  his  family.  He  reached  home  the  13th 
of  June,  1876,  and  remained  there  until 
October,  when  he  grew  weary  of  civilization, 
and  longed  for  the  free,  untrammeled  life  of 
the  plains  once  more;  so,  taking  with  him 
his  oldest  son  and  a  man  named  Baker,  he  set 
out  in  quest  of  further  adventures  in  the 
Great  West. 


CHAPTER  XL 

IN  THE  LAKE  DISTRICT — A  GANG  OF  BADGERS 
— A  GOOD  HARVEST  OF  WOLF-SKINS — 
OMAHAS— JIMMIE'S  FRIGHT— A  BAD  BLIZ- 
ZARD— FROST-BITTEN. 

He  decided  to  make  at  once  for  his  old 
haunt  on  the  Pawnee  River;  but  the  rivers 
all  through  Kansas  were  badly  swollen,  and 
in  places  it  was  almost  impossible  to  make 
any  headway,  so  it  was  full  fourteen  days 
before  his  destination  was  reached.  He  con- 
cluded to  take  up  his  headquarters  at  Clear 
Lake.  When  within  a  few  miles  of  the  lake, 
as  he  was  driving  leisurely  along  with  his 
son  and  Baker,  he  spied  a  solitary  buffalo 
grazing  not  far  off;  but  before  they  could 
come  within  range  the  animal  perceived  them, 
and  was  off  in  a  twinkling.  Youngblood,  for- 
tunately, happened  to  have  a  pony  along  with 
him,  which  he  had  captured  in  a  skirmish 
with  the  Cheyennes,  and  he  mounted  it  and 

(125) 


126 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


started  in  pursuit.  The  pony  had  been 
trained  to  the  business,  and  crowded  the 
buffalo  so  close  that  it  turned  and  showed 
fight;  but  before  he  could  do  any  damage,  a 
shot  brought  him  low,  and  when  the  wagon 
came  up  Youngblood  had  nearly  finished 
dressing  him.  This  was  the  first  buffalo  the 
other  two  had  ever  seen,  and  they  were 
greatly  delighted.  They  camped  that  night 
at  Alkali  Lake,  and  had  a  plentiful  supper 
of  buffalo-meat,  which  Baker  and  Young- 
blood's  son  thought  was  the  finest  thing  they 
had  ever  eaten.  The  old  hunter  smiled  at 
their  enthusiasm,  and,  it  being  no  novelty  to 
him,  did  not  care  to  taste  it,  for  it  was  as  old 
as  he  was,  and  as  poor  as  a  snake.  The  next 
morning  was  dreary  and  stormy,  but  they 
hitched  up  the  horses  and  drove  about  five 
miles,  when  they  ran  into  a  squad  of  hunters. 
Game  appeared  to  be  very  plentiful,  and  the 
fusillade  was  continuous.  Our  friends  con- 
tinued their  way  to  the  foot  of  the  "  White 
Woman,"  but,  as  water  was  scarce  there, 
they  soon  drifted  back  into  the  lake  region. 


IN  THE  LAKE  DISTKICT.  127 

One  evening,  when  the  little  company  had 
halted  near  Silver  Lake  and  camped  on  a 
small  branch  for  the  night,  Baker,  who  had 
strolled  away  a  short  distance  from  the  camp, 
suddenly  called  out : 

"Oh,  look  over  there!  What  a  gang  of 
badgers." 

Youngblood  ran  to  find  out  what  he  meant, 
and  he  saw  that  his  gang  of  badgers  was 
really  a  herd  of  buffalo,  with  the  tips  of 
their  humps  just  visible  above  the  crest  of  a 
little  hillock.  He  hurried  back,  seized  his 
gun,  and  stealing  to  the  top  of  the  ridge, 
succeeded  in  killing  twelve.  These,  when 
dressed,  made  so  good  a  load  that  they  carted 
them  at  once  to  Sherlock,  and  shipped  them 
to  market.  After  this  was  accomplished, 
they  returned  and  took  up  their  abode  on 
Alkali  Lake.  Leaving  Baker  to  make  a  dug- 
out— a  hut  dug  in  the  bank  of  a  branch  or 
the  brink  of  a  hill — Youngblood,  with  his 
son  Jimmie,  went  out  about  four  miles,  where 
they  found  the  carcass  of  a  buffalo,  preyed 
on  by  a  number  of  wolves.    As  wolf -skins 


128 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


brought  excellent  prices  in  the  market, 
Youngblood  concluded  he  would  put  some 
strychnine  in  the  carcass,  camp  near  by,  and 
await  the  result;  and  he  was  well  paid  for 
his  trouble,  for  when  he  went  back  the  next 
morning  to  observe  the  effects  of  the  poison, 
he  found  the  dead  bodies  of  thirteen  wolves. 
These,  with  the  assistance  of  his  son,  he 
skinned,  and  laden  with  the  pelts  he  started 
back  to  the  wagon.  They  had  gone  but  a 
short  distance,  however,  before  they  struck 
a  large  herd  of  buffalo,  coming  toward  them 
on  the  run.  The  hunter,  leaving-  Jimmie  in 
charge  of  the  skins,  threw  himself  down  in 
the  grass  and  awaited  the  coming  of  the 
herd  until  they  were  within  about  twenty 
yards  of  him,  when  he  opened  fire;  but  out 
of  twenty  shots  he  succeeded  in  killing  only 
six.  Meanwhile,  poor  Jimmie  was  greatly 
alarmed,  for  he  could  not  see  his  father,  and 
imagined  he  was  being  trampled  upon  by  the 
heavy  hoofs,  until  he  heard  the  firing  and 
was  undeceived.  Scarcely  had  the  herd 
passed  when  Jimmie  perceived  a  horseman 


m  THE  LAKE  DISTRICT.  129 

coming  toward  them,  and  called  his  father's 
attention  to  it.  After  a  little  scrutiny  the 
latter  saw  that  it  was  an  Indian,  and  told 
Jimmie  so.  At  this  the  boy  fell  into  a  ter- 
rible state  of  alarm,  cried,  and  wished  he  had 
not  come;  but  when  several  more  appeared 
in  sight,  it  was  as  much  as  his  father  could 
do  to  pacify  him.  As  they  came  close, 
Youngblood  raised  his  gun  to  his  shoulder, 
and  ordering  the  foremost  of  them  to  halt, 
asked  him  what  tribe  they  belonged  to. 

"  Omaha,"  was  the  reply. 

"  How  many  of  you  are  there  ?" 

"  Thirty." 

This  was  about  correct,  as  Youngblood 
could  see  for  himself.  The  Indian  then  in- 
quired as  to  the  number  of  the  white  man's 
party.  The  Indians  were  directly  in  the  road 
to  the  camp,  and  did  not  look  particularly 
friendly,  but  Youngblood  answered  boldly 
that  they  were  eight,  and  advised  the  Indians 
to  turn  to  the  left,  as  some  of  the  boys  might 
want  to  shoot  if  they  saw  them.  This  he 
did,  carefully  watching  for  "the  boys,"  but 

9 


130 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


not  meeting  with  any  success,  This  little 
rase  having  succeeded,  our  hero  and  his 
trembling  son  made  a  bee-line  for  home.  The 
Indians  pitched  their  tepees  upon  a  hill 
about  a  mile  from  the  camp,  and  it  was  evi- 
dent that  they  intended  to  remain  there  for 
the  night.  As  it  was  much  earlier  in  the  day 
than  they  would  ordinarily  begin  to  make 
preparations  for  the  night,  and  as  the  site 
they  had  selected  was  not  very  accessible 
to  water,  Youngblood's  suspicions  became 
aroused,  and  he  at  once  began  to  put  things 
in  the  best  order  for  defense,  in  case  his  little 
camp  should  be  attacked.  It  looked  very 
much  as  if  the  red-skins  had  taken  up  their 
position  in  order  to  watch  the  hunters,  and 
possibly  attack  them  before  daybreak.  As  a 
precaution,  Youngblood  picketed  a  horse  on 
a  knoll,  about  a  hundred  yards  from  camp, 
so  that  if  they  came  he  would  be  warned 
before  they  were  absolutely  upon  him.  A 
horse  is  about  the  best  possible  guard  against 
a  surprise  by  Indians,  being  much  superior 
in  that  respect  to  a  dog.    The  latter  is  apt  to 


IN  THE  LAKE  DISTKICT.  131 

make  altogether  too  much  noise,  and  so  give 
the  alarm  to  the  Indians  as  well,  while  the 
horse  only  snorts  at  most,  and,  moreover, 
does  not  sleep  as  mnch  or  as  soundly  as  the 
dog,  and  seldom  allows  himself  to  be  sur- 
prised. If  Indians  are  approaching,  no  mat- 
ter how  craftily,  he  is  sure  to  discover  it  and 
let  his  master  know  of  it  by  his  restlessness, 
sniffing,  and  snorting. 

The  fears  of  the  hunter,  however,  proved 
groundless  on  this  occasion,  for  the  red-skins 
gave  no  sign.    The  horse  exhibited  no  symp-. 
toms  of  alarm,  but  Youngblood  continued  to 
watch  him  until  about  9  o'clock  the  next  day. 

The  morning  was  very  foggy,  and  it  was 
not  until  10  o'clock  that  the  atmosphere 
cleared  sufficiently  to  render  it  safe  to  make 
a  reconnoiter.  As  soon  as  he  considered  it 
feasible,  "Youngblood  took  his  gun  and  am- 
munition, and  in  company  with  his  son  pro- 
ceeded to  the  hill  where  the  Indians  had 
pitched  their  camp  the  day  before.  There 
was  no  sign  of  them  now,  excepting  the  ashes 
of  their  deserted  fires,  and  after  a  close 


132 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


examination  to  discover  which  way  they  had 
gone,  their  trail  was  found  leading  toward 
White  Woman  Creek. 

Some  time  afterward  Youngblood  learned 
that,  while  on  their  march,  they  came  very 
near  capturing  another  hunter.  This  man 
lived  in  a  dug-out,  and  was  preparing  his  sup- 
per, Avhen  he  saw  the  savages  bearing  down 
upon  him.  One  man  against  thirty  in  an 
open  light  was  without  a  chance,  so  he  rushed 
into  his  dug-out,  slammed  the  door  to  and 
made  it  fast.  The  Indians  soon  came  up  and 
tried  to  burst  in.  The  door  was  not  of  the 
strongest,  and  as  the  man  inside  thought 
that  he  was  doomed  to  death  anyhow,  he 
determined  to  sell  his  life  as  dearly  as  possi- 
ble, and  began  to  shoot  through  the  door  at 
his  would-be  slayers. 

A  great  many  of  the  Indians  were  wounded 
by  his  bullets,  and  they  soon  abandoned  the 
plan  of  breaking  down  the  door  as  a  bad  and 
costly  job,  and  turned  their  attention  to  the 
top  of  the  dug-out.  But  they  were  even  less 
successful  there,  for  the  interior  of  the  hut 


IN  THE  LAKE  DISTRICT.  133 

was  dark,  and  the  hunter,  aiming  through 
the  smoke-hole,  could  bring  them  down  with 
his  gun,  while  affording  no  target  himself. 
They  soon  got  tired  of  this,  and  retreated, 
leaving  the  man  unharmed.  Indians  will 
never  fight  unless  they  are  pretty  confident 
they  can  do  so  without  injury  to  any  one  of 
their  number. 

An  old  Ogallah  chief  once  declared  in 
Youngblood's  hearing,  that  it  did  not  pay  to 
give  man  for  man,  and  that  he  would  not  do 
it.  One  resolute  and  experienced  white  man 
can  hold  fifty  Indians  at  bay,  if  he  has  a  good 
position  and  understands  how  to  derive  the 
most  advantage  from  it. 

As  we  related  above,  the  red-skins,  finding 
that  they  could  not  get  at  the  man  in  the 
dug-out  without  considerable  loss  to  them- 
selves, retreated  and  took  up  their  station  on 
a  little  hill  a  short  distance  away.  As  soon 
as  it  was  dark,  the  hunter  crept  out,  and, 
although  running  a  great  risk,  he  managed 
to  elude  his  bloodthirsty  enemies  and  effect 
his  escape.    But,  although  thus  lucky  this 


134 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


time,  the  poor  fellow  was  soon  after  over- 
taken by  a  worse  fate,  if  any  fate  can  be 
worse  than  that  of  falling  into  the  hands  of 
the  red  devils. 

He  and  his  two  partners  were  out  hunting, 
when  they  were  caught  in  a  heavy  snow- 
storm, frozen  to  death,  and  their  bodies  half- 
devoured  by  wolves  before  they  were  discov- 
ered. 

Youngblood  himself  had  a  narrow  escape 
from  a  similar  frightful  experience.  He  and 
his  son  were  out  hunting,  and  had  been  in 
pursuit  of  two  buffalo  calves  for  about  twelve 
miles  before  they  finally  captured  them  at  a 
point  about  six  miles  from  Silver  Lake. 
They  were  on  their  way  to  the  lake,  when 
the  weather  suddenly  began  to  turn  piercing 
cold,  and  there  was  every  sign  of  an 
approaching  blizzard.  They  hurried  on  at 
as  rapid  a  pace  as  possible,  and  when  within 
about  a  mile  of  the  lake  and  shelter,  they  saw 
away  to  their  left  an  unusually  large  herd  of 
buffalo,  fully  2,000  of  them.  All  Young- 
blood's  hunting  instincts  were  aroused,  and 


IN  THE  LAKE  DISTRICT.  135 

he  could  scarcely  conquer  his  desire  to  take 
advantage  of  such  a  magnificent  opportunity, 
but  the  sun  was  almost  down  and  the  cold 
was  increasing,  so  he  decided  it  would  be  the 
only  wise  policy  to  go  to  the  spring  and  wait 
till  morning  before  trying  his  luck.  As  they 
lay  down  for  the  night,  he  noticed  a  very 
black  cloud  overhanging  the  horizon,  and  the 
next  morning,  alas  for  his  hopes  of  game,  the 
snow  was  a  foot  deep  and  still  falling,  and 
the  air  was  bitterly  cold.  He  called  out  to 
his  son  to  lie  still  until  the  storm  should 
abate,  but  the  boy  soon  grew  weary  of  this, 
and  got  up  to  kindle  a  fire.  This,  however, 
he  could  not  succeed  in  doing,  and  he  was 
soon  crying  so  bitterly  with  the  cold  that  his 
father  arose,  and  after  several  futile  attempts 
finally  managed  to  obtain  a  blaze.  The  horses 
had  strayed  off  in  search  of  shelter,  and  were 
nowhere  to  be  found,  and  Sherlock  was  thir- 
teen miles  away.  It  seemed  little  short  of 
madness  to  try  to  wade  there  through  the- 
drifting  snow,  but  Jimmie  begged  so  pite- 
ously  that  his  father  finally  consented  to 


136 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


make  the  attempt;  but  after  starting  he  more 
than  once  regretted  it,  for  the  cold  was  even 
more  piercing  and  the  traveling  more  diffi- 
cult than  he  had  anticipated.  The  snow  was 
whirling  all  about  them  in  huge  drifts,  and 
the  fierce  wind  blew  the  frozen  particles  into 
their  clothes  until  they  became  so  stiff  that 
walking  knee -deep  through  the  snow  was 
terribly  fatiguing.  Their  progress  was  neces- 
sarily very  slow,  and  it  was  several  hours 
before  they  reached  a  house  and  could  obtain 
the  longed-for  food,  shelter,  and  warmth. 
After  they  had  eaten  something,  Youngblood 
was  still  shivering,  and  at  the  suggestion  of 
the  woman  of  the  house  seated  himself  close 
to  a  red-hot  stove,  pressing  his  legs  almost 
against  the  glowing  mass  of  coals. 

He  had  not  been  seated  there  long,  how- 
ever, before  he  suddenly  discovered  that 
there  was  something  wrong  with  his  feet. 
At  first  they  had  felt  only  numb,  but  they 
now  began  to  ache  and  throb,  and  in  a  short 
time  the  pain  became  so  intense  that  it  was 
almost  unbearable. 


m  THE  LAKE  DISTKIOT. 


137 


He  went  to  bed  with  his  socks  on,  but  his 
suffering  was  so  keen  as  to  dispel  all  idea  of 
sleep,  and  the  next  morning  he  discovered,  to 
his  horror,  that  his  feet  were  almost  perfectly 
black,  frightfully  swollen,  and  covered  with 
blisters. 

There  was  no  longer  any  doubt  about  it, 
his  feet  were  badly  frozen;  and  the  unlucky 
application  of  heat  had  been  about  the  worst 
thing  that  could  possibly  have  been  done. 
A  very  serious  matter  it  proved  to  our  poor 
hunter,  for  at  the  end  of  twenty  days  there 
were  symptoms  of  mortification,  and  he  was 
put  on  a  train  and  taken  to  Fort  Dodge,  a 
distance  of  sixty  miles,  for  medical  treat- 
ment. Here  a  physician  was  employed,  who 
burned  off  the  dead  flesh  and  scraped  the 
bone,  and  at  the  end  of  seven  months  the 
patient  was  able  to  walk  a  little;  but  it  was 
a  much  longer  time  before  he  entirely  recov- 
ered from  his  lameness. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

CIMARRON  CREEK — PLENTY  OF  GAME — IN  A 
BAD  FIX— HE  COULDN'T  STAND  THE  INDIANS 
— -AFRAID  OF  LIGHTNING  OVER  HIS  HEAD 
— A  LAUGHABLE  ACCIDENT. 

As  soon  as  he  was  sufficiently  recovered, 
Youngblood,  with  his  son,  returned  to  Sher- 
lock, and  again  started  in  hunting.  He 
could  walk  only  with  great  difficulty,  and  he 
was  forced  to  drive  in  a  wagon  as  near  a  herd 
as  he  could,  and  then  crawl  on  his  hands  and 
knees  to  within  range. 

From  Sherlock  he  went  west  about  twenty 
miles,  and  then,  crossing  the  Arkansas  River, 
went  about  thirty  miles,  to  Cimarron  Creek. 
After  following  this  stream  about  ten  miles, 
he  struck  a  large  herd  of  buffalo,  and  in 
spite  of  his  infirmity  succeeded  in  killing 
three. 

After  this  they  went  about  ten  miles 
farther  along  the  road,  and  camped  for  the 

(139) 


140 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER, 


night.  Early  the  next  morning,  Jimmie 
Youngblood,  who  had  gone  out  to  attend  to 
the  horses,  warned  his  father  that  there  were 
buffalo  close  by.  One  was  soon  brought 
down,  and  the  others  gathered,  bellowing, 
about  the  carcass.  To  shoot  them  thus  was 
child' s  play  to  the  experienced  hunter,  and 
he  fired  at  his  ease  until  he  had  killed  nine. 
Only  five  miles  were  made  that  day,  when 
they  again  stopped  for  the  night.  The  next 
morning,  to  their  dismay,  they  found  that 
one  of  their  horses  was  dead;  but  Young- 
blood  sent  his  son  after  a  team.  One  of  his 
old  partners,  fortunately,  happened  to  be  in 
town,  and,  only  too  glad  to  help  his  friend 
out  of  a  scrape,  came  and  hauled  the  meat 
for  him. 

There  was  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  another 
horse,  and  Youngblood  was  soon  again  on 
the  track  of  the  buffalo,  this  time  about  forty 
miles  back  on  Cimarron  Creek.  The  first 
night  he  camped  in  the  bed  of  a  dry  lake 
and  slept  in  the  wagon.  When  he  raised  his 
head  in  the  morning  and  peeped  out,  he  saw 


CIMARRON  CREEK. 


141 


something  about  two  miles  away  that  looked 
like  a  herd  of  buffalo,  but  he  was  not  quite 
sure,  and  rousing  his  son,  he  asked  him  to 
see  if  his  younger  eyes  could  make  out  what 
it  was.  The  boy,  half -awake,  turned  to  look 
in  the  opposite  direction,  and  there,  bearing 
straight  toward  them,  and  almost  upon  them, 
was  a  herd  fully  a  mile  long  and  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  wide.  With  a  yell,  he  called  his 
father' s  attention  to  the  great  sight.  Young- 
blood  hurried  to  get  his  gun,  but  by  the 
time  he  was  ready  the  buffalo  were  within 
twenty  paces  of  him.  As  they  went  thunder- 
ing past,  making  the  rocks  and  trees  resound 
with  their  trampling  and  bellowing,  he  put 
in  good  work,  and  by  the  time  they  had 
passed  he  had  a  fine  load,  which,  after  dress- 
ing, he  took  back  to  market. 

Jimmie  now  left  him  and  went  back  to 
Missouri,  so  he  hired  in  his  place  a  man 
named  George  Daniels,  to  whom  he  gave  $30 
a  month.  This  proved  an  unprofitable  in- 
vestment, however,  for  Daniels  only  stayed 
about  three  weeks,  when  the  Indians  scared 


142 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTEE. 


him  away.  He  had  been  sent  out  one  morn- 
ing after  the  horses,  and  when  about  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  from  camp,  he  discovered  a 
couple  of  Indians  riding  toward  him.  Leav- 
ing the  horses  to  take  care  of  themselves,  he 
came  flying  into  camp,  screaming  and  yell- 
ing for  help  at  every  stride.  His  cries 
brought  his  master  out  to  see  what  was  the 
matter,  and,  sure  enough,  the  red-skins  were 
close  upon  the  poor  wretch.  The  sight  of 
the  hunter  and  his  rifle  persuaded  them  to 
stop,  however,  and  they  at  once  turned  tail 
and  rode  away.  This  adventure  was  alto- 
gether too  much  for  Daniels'  nerves,  and  he 
declared  that  he  wouldn't  stay  for  $500  a 
month. 

'  •  Nonsense, ' '  laughed  Youngblood.  6  'Such 
little  brushes  are  nothing  when  one  gets  used 
to  them." 

"But  I  should  never  get  used  to  them," 
replied  the  other,  with  a  shudder.  "Why, 
there's  everything  that's  horrible  out  here — 
snakes,  skunks,  centipedes,  tarantulas,  and 
Indians." 


CIMARRON"  CREEK. 


143 


Youngblood  tried  to  reassure  him  by  tell- 
ing him  that  if  he  wasn't  born  to  be  killed  by 
an  Indian  -he  wouldn't  be,  and  if  he  was,  he 
couldn't  escape  it  anyhow. 

"Born  or  not  born,"  was  the  skeptical 
answer,  "they  would  have  had  me  if  it 
hadn't  been  for  you." 

"  But  unless  it  was  God's  will,  He  would 
not  allow  them  to  hurt  you." 

"I  would  rather  depend  upon  you  than 
God  when  the  Indians  are  after  me," 
answered  the  incorrigible  Daniels. 

There  was  no  satisfaction  to  be  gotten  out 
of  him,  and  there  was  no  use  in  arguing  with 
him.  The  man's  cowardice  made  his  life  a 
misery  to  him;  there  was  scarcely  anything 
that  he  was  not  afraid  of.  One  day  he  bor- 
rowed Youngblood' s  gun  to  shoot  an  antelope 
with.  He  was  stealing  slyly  up  to  the  ani- 
mal, when,  to  Youngblood' s  amazement,  he 
suddenly  turned  and  came  running  toward 
the  wagon  at  full  speed. 

"What  in  the  world  is  the  matter  ?*'  cried 
Youngblood,      "Why,"     he  exclaimed, 


144 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


"  didn't  you  see  the  lightning?  I  don't 
want  any  steel  in  my  hands  when  there' s  light- 
ning round.  Why,  I've  jerked  many  a  knife 
out  of  my  pocket  and  thrown  it  away  on 
that  account." 

Youngblood  laughed,  and  told  him  if  he 
wasn't  careful  he  would  get  killed  before  his 
time,  yet — a  jesting  speech,  which  was  des- 
tined to  come  true,  as  he  was  afterward 
hung  for  murder  in  Warrensburg,  Missouri. 
He  protested  his  innocence,  and  Youngblood 
always  believed  in  it,  as,  except  for  his  cow- 
ardice, there  was  no  harm  in  him. 

After  Daniels'  departure,  Youngblood 
hired  a  man  named  George  Johnson,  which 
proved  to  be  a  jump  from  the  frying-pan  into 
the  fire,  for  Johnson  was  a  bigger  coward,  if 
possible,  than  Daniels,  and  lacked  the  latter' s 
willing  good-nature.  The  partnership,  how- 
ever, was  of  short  duration,  for  about  twenty 
days  after  it  was  formed  an  accident  hap- 
pened that  caused  it  to  be  broken. 

They  had  taken  a  load  of  meat  into  the 
station,  and  were  selling  it  out  to  the  emi- 


CIMARRON  CREEK. 


145 


grants.  With  some  of  these  Johnson  struck 
up  an  acquaintance,  and  was  never  weary  of 
boasting  to  the  young  women  he  met  of  the 
doughty  deeds  he  had  accomplished — killing 
buffalo,  riding  wild  horses,  and  many  other 
things  of  which  he  knew  nothing  whatever. 
Once,  while  he  was  telling  them  what  a 
splendid  horseman  he  was,  one  of  them  said: 
"Dear  me,  I  wish  you  would  ride  one  of 
Pa's  horses;  no  one  can  manage  him,  and 
he  throws  everyone  who  gets  on  his  back. " 

J ohnson  was  in  a  fix,  but  he  made  up  his 
mind  that  it  would  Mot  do  to  back  down,  so, 
though  inwardly  quaking,  he  answered  that 
he  could  ride  anything,  he  didn't  care  what 
it  was.  The  horse  was  therefore  saddled 
and  brought  out.  By  the  time  all  things 
were  in  readiness  for  the  show  to  begin,  a 
large  crowd,  of  both  sexes,  all  ages  and  sizes, 
had  gathered  together  to  witness  the  fun  and 
applaud  the  marvelous  feats  of  horseman- 
ship. Johnson  climbed  into  the  saddle,  and 
told  the  men  who  were  at  the  horse's  head  to 

let  him  go.    No  sooner  was  this  injunction 
10 


146 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


obeyed  than  the  animal  began  to  rear  and 
plunge  fearfully/  and  after  a  few  jumps 
changed  to  the  old  trick  of  bucking  and 
kicking.  All  at  once  he  gave  a  sudden 
jump  and  came  down  stiffly  on  his  fore  legs, 
at  the  same  time  jerking  his  head  down  to 
the  ground  and  kicking  as  high  as  he  could 
with  his  hind  legs.  This  was  too  much  for  a 
horseman  of  even  Johnson's  vaunted  skill 
and  experience,  and  he  flew  over  the  horse's 
head,  with  legs,  arms,  and  fingers  spread  out 
like  a  jumping-jack.  As  he  went  over,  the 
seat  of  his  pants  caught  on  the  horn  of 
the  saddle,  and  remained  there,  being  torn 
completely  away  from  the  garment  of  which 
it  was  such  an  important  part.  The  unfort- 
unate victim  of  his  own  vanity  struck  the 
ground  on  all  fours,  and  full  of  fear  that  the 
horse  would  kick  him,  he  scrambled  off  as 
fast  as  he  could  on  his  hands  and  knees,  with 
that  portion  of  his  anatomy  which  in  a  beef 
is  called  the  best  steak  unprotected  by  any 
other  covering  than  that  which  Nature  had 
given  it.    He  crawled  along  in  this  way  for 


CIMARRON  CREEK. 


147 


some  distance,  followed  by  shouts  of  laugh- 
ter from  the  observers;  when  he  finally  vent- 
ured to  look  round,  and  made  sure  that  the 
horse  was  not  going  to  attack  him,  he  jumped 
to  his  feet,  and  gathering  the  back  part  of 
his  pants  in  both  hands,  'he  slunk  hastily 
away  into  the  bushes.  It  is  scarcely  neces- 
sary to  state  that  he  did  not  again  appear  in 
the  presence  of  the  young  girls  to  whom  he 
had  boasted  so  loud  of  his  prowess. 

The  next  morning  he  called  on  Young- 
blood  and  asked  him  for  his  pay,  saying  that 
he  was  going  to  leave  the  country,  for  he 
would  never  hear  the  last  of  his  misadvent- 
ure if  he  should  remain.  Youngblood  tried 
to  dissuade  him  from  his  purpose,  saying 
that  the  horse  had  thrown  everybody  that  had 
tried  to  ride  him,  but  it  was  all  of  no  avail. 

"That's  all  very  well,"  he  said;  "but 
everybody  has  not  had  his  breeches  torn  off, 
as  I  did.    It's  no  use  to  talk;  I  won't  stay." 

Convinced  that  he  meant  what  he  said, 
Youngblood  paid  him  off,  and  had  to  look 
out  for  someone  else  to  take  his  place. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


WILD  HORSES  —  PERISHING  OF  THIRST  — 
WATER  AT  LAST— BONES  ON  THE  PLAINS 
—KNEW  MORE  THAN  THE  GUIDE — THE 
RESULT  OF  PIGrllEADEDNESS. 

After  he  parted  with  Johnson,  Yonngblood 
formed  a  partnership  with  two  young  men 
named  Stanfield,  At  that  time  there  were  a 
great  many  wild  horses  in  the  neighborhood, 
and  the  new  combination  decided  to  try 
their  luck  in  catching  them.  It  was  not  long 
after  they  started  out  that  they  struck  a 
drove  of  about  seventy -five  going  west.  As 
no  one  of  the  three  had  had  any  experience 
in  that  particular  line  of  hunting,  they  had  no 
idea  how  far  the  sport  was  likely  to  carry 
them,  and  followed  the  horses  closely,  expect- 
ing to  get  back  that  night,  but  instead  of 
that,  they  were  led  a  long  chase  of  about  140 
miles.  As  they  had  started  out  without  the 
slightest  anticipation  of  anything  of  this 

(149) 


150 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTEE. 


sort,  they  had  made  no  preparations  for  it, 
were  without  provisions,  and  were  compelled 
to  do  entirely  without  water.  On  the  second 
day,  onr  friend  Youngblood  got  accidentally 
separated  from  his  two  companions,  ?,nd  on 
the  third  day,  not  having  tasted  a  drop  of 
water  for  over  forty -eight  hours,  he  came  to 
a  dry  branch.  He  dismounted  from  his  horse, 
and  began  scratching  in  the  mud  for  the 
longed-for  fluid.  While  thus  engaged,  his 
horse  broke  loose  from  him,  and  before  he 
could  prevent  it,  galloped  away  across  the 
prairie.  He  was  soon  out  of  sight,  and  there 
was  Youngblood,  left  in  the  midst  of  the 
boundless  prairies  without  food  or  drink, 
afoot  and  alone.  He  tried  chewing  grass  to 
assuage  his  burning  thirst,  and  he  was  so  faint 
and  weak  that  he  could  hardly  walk,  being 
obliged  to  stop  and  rest  every  few  steps.  He 
was  dragging  himself  slowly  and  painfully 
along,  and  beginning  to  despair  of  escaping 
from  his  terrible  predicament,  when  he  saw, 
just  ahead,  coming  toward  him,  a  drove  of 
wild  horses.  He  noticed  that  they  kept  turn- 


WILD  HORSES. 


151 


ing  and  looking  back,  as  if  pursued,  and  he 
soon  perceived  two  men  following  them,  to 
whom  he  made  vigorous  signs  of  distress. 
The  men  perceived  them,  and,  to  his  great  joy, 
rode  up  to  him  and  inquired  what  was  the 
matter.  The  two  new-comers  proved  to  be 
one  of  the  Stanfield  boys  and  a  man  named 
Reece.  Youngblood's  throat  and  tongue 
were  so  dry  and  parched  that  he  could  not 
speak,  but  they  soon  understood  his  dilemma. 
They  had  no  water,  but  they  gave  him,  a 
very  poor  substitute,  some  dried  apples  to 
chew  and  create  a  flow  of  saliva  to  moisten 
his  mouth.  Stanfield  then  took  him  behind 
him  on  his  horse,  and  galloped  off  with  him 
to  a  spring  about  ten  miles  away.  It  took 
over  an  hour  to  reach  this  spring,  an  hour  of 
intolerable  agony  to  our  poor  hero.  When 
water  was  finally  before  him,  he  had  to  be 
very  careful  not  to  drink  too  much,  taking 
about  a  pint  at  first,  and  after  awhile 
another,  and  so  on  until  he  knew  there  was 
no  more  danger,  It  took  a  prodigious  quan- 
tity to  satisfy  him,  and  it  was  some  days 


152 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


before  he  had  entirely  recovered  from  his 
enforced  abstinence.  The  horse  that  broke 
away  from  him  was  not  so  fortunate,  but 
perished  on  the  arid  plains. 

Many  and  many  a  man  has  gone  out  as 
Youngblood  did,  and  died  of  hunger,  thirst, 
or  cold;  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  find  the 
bones  of  these  unfortunates  strewn  over  the 
ground  where  they  met  their  miserable  fate. 
Youngblood  once  found  the  skeleton  of  a 
man  who  must  have  frozen  to  death,  for 
there  were  ashes  near  by,  which  showed  that 
he  had  burned  his  wagon  and  even  his  gun- 
stock.  He  could  not  have  been  long  dead, 
but  the  wolves  had  picked  his  bones  com- 
pletely clean.  Another  whose  remains  he 
discovered  had  a  bullet -hole  in  his  head,  and, 
from  the  position  of  his  gun,  it  was  only  too 
probable  that  he  had  shot  himself  to  put  an 
end  to  his  sufferings.  Still  another  was  in  a 
sitting  posture,  with  his  cloak  wrapped 
around  him,  and,  as  there  were  no  marks  of 
violence  on  the  body,  had  evidently  perished 
from  hunger  or  cold,  or  perhaps  both  together. 


WILD  HOESES. 


153 


These  are  only  a  few  instances  of  the  hun- 
dreds who  have  gone  to  their  death  alone  on 
the  plains,  and  after  the  experience  of  terrible 
sufferings  which  no  human  being  beheld  or 
will  ever  know. 

As  has  been  said  before  in  these  pages,  but 
the  fact  will  bear  reiteration,  no  person 
should  dream  of  going  out  on  the  plains 
without  a  competent  guide;  and  it  will  not 
do  to  take  anyone  that  offers  himself,  for 
there  are  a  great  many  men  who  profess  to 
be  acquainted  with  the  country,  but  who 
know  nothing  about  it,  and  such  lying 
scamps  are  worse  than  nobody.  But  when  a 
good  man  is  procured,  put  your  whole  trust 
in  him,  and  do  not  profess,  with  your  lim- 
ited experience,  to  know  more  than  does  he 
who  has  made  the  plains  his  life-study.  As 
an  illustration  of  the  folly  of  persisting 
obstinately  in  having  one's  own  way,  may 
be  cited  a  little  experience  of  Youngblood's. 
He  was  hunting  near  Lakin  Station,  on  the 
Atchison  &  Topeka  Railroad,  when  a  couple 
of  men  sought  his  services  as  a  guide  across 


154 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


the  country  to  the  south  of  the  Arkansas 
River.  A  bargain  was  soon  struck,  and  the 
journey  was  begun.  Youngblood  had  his 
saddle-horse,  and  the  two  travelers  were  the 
possessors  of  a  good  team  of  mules.  They 
proceeded  about  twenty  miles  the  first  day, 
and  camped  at  night  on  the  banks  of  a  small 
lake.  Before  starting  the  next  morning, 
Youngblood  strongly  advised  his  employers 
to  fill  a  barrel  they  had  in  the  wagon  with 
water,  as  it  was  twenty-five  miles  to  the  next 
spring  or  lake  on  their  route.  But  they  said 
no,  it  wouldn't  be  worth  while;  they  could 
stand  it,  and,  besides,  the  water  would  soon 
get  warm  and  be  unfit  to  drink.  So  they 
contented  themselves  with  gulping  down  as 
much  as  they  could,  and  announced  them- 
selves ready  to  start,  doubtless  under  the 
impression  that  they  would  not  be  thirsty 
any  more  that  day;  but  in  this  they  were 
sadly  mistaken.  It  was  intolerably  hot, 
and  they  were  obliged  to  travel  under  a  broil- 
ing sun;  so,  about  11,  they  began  to  want 
a  drink,  and  insisted  upon  driving  out  of  the 


WILD  HORSES. 


155 


route  to  examine  old,  dry  lakes,  in  tlie  hope 
of  finding  water.  Youngblood  protested 
against  these  proceedings,  assuring  them 
that  they  were  only  losing  time;  that  the 
nearest  water  was  the  lake  he  had  spoken  of, 
and  that  they  would  be  able  to  slake  their 
thirst  sooner  by  driving  directly  there  than 
by  the  useless  exploration  of  dry  lakes. 
They  finally  ended  by  growing  angry,  and 
told  him  sharply  that  he  did  not  know  what 
he  was  talking  about;  that  they  knew  more 
about  the  country  than  he  did,  and  that 
there  was  no  water  within  forty  miles  of 
them.  They  became  so  obstinate,  and  even 
insulting,  that  Youngblood  could  bear  it  no 
longer,  and,  telling  them  that  they  might  go 
to  a  warmer  country,  for  all  he  cared,  rode 
off  and  left  them.  After  he  had  ridden  away 
a  short  distance,  he  looked  back  to  find  out 
if  they  were  following  him,  but  saw  that  they 
had  turned,  as  if  to  return  to  Lakin. 
Lakin  was  only  about  twenty  miles  in  a 
straight  line,  and  about  thirty-five  the  way 
they  had  come;  but  to  go  directly  there,  one 


156 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER.  • 


would  be  forced  to  cross  over  a  range  of 
sand-hills,  which  were  almost  impassable. 
The  men  were  in  a  hurry  to  get  back,  how- 
ever, and,  trusting  to  their  knowledge  of  the 
country,  took  the  direct  route,  and,  of 
course,  ran  straight  into  the  sand-hills,  from 
which,  after  floundering  about  all  that  night 
and  the  next  day,  they  finally  emerged  about 
thirty  miles  from  the  place  they  intended  to 
strike.  Here,  fortunately  for  them,  they 
found  water;  but  their  mules  had  given  out 
before  they  had  gotten  through  the  hills, 
and  they  had  been  obliged  to  leave  their 
wagon  and  foot  it  the  rest  of  the  way. 
After  they  had  rested,  they  gave  a  pilot  $5 
a  day  to  go  back  with  them  after  their 
wagon;  and  at  last,  worn  out  and  disgusted, 
they  reached  Garden  City.  Here,  they  had 
"  powerful  tales  "  to  tell  of  the  mischances 
they  had  suffered,  and  pitched  right  and 
left  into  their  old  fool  of  a  guide  for  getting 
them  into  such  scrapes. 

"Who  was  your  guide?"  asked  an  old 
hunter. 


WILD  HORSES. 


157 


"  A  man  named  Youngblood." 

The  hunter  roared  with  laughter. 

"Why,  you  donkeys,"  he  said,  uthat 
man  knows  every  puddle  on  the  plains.  He 
is  A  No.  1,  and  if  you  had  stuck  to  him 
would  have  brought  you  out  all  right.  All 
your  trouble  came  from  your  pigheadedness 
in  thinking  that  you  knew  more  than  your 
guide." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


A    GREAT    BUFFALO-HUNT  — -  NEW   GAME  —  A 
LIVELY  CHASE  AFTER  WILD  HORSES. 

One  of  the  biggest  and  most  exciting  buf- 
falo-hunts that  our  friend  Youngblood  was 
ever  engaged  in,  happened  in  this  way:  A 
certain  New  Yorker  was  called  West  on  busi- 
ness, and  as  he  had  a  few  days  of  spare  time, 
he  concluded  that  he  would  like  a  buffalo- 
chase.  He  had  never  seen  a  buffalo,  but  had 
a  great  desire  to  do  so,  and,  just  for  the  fun 
of  it,  to  kill  a  dozen  or  two.  He  mentioned 
his  wish  to  the  landlord  of  the  hotel  where 
he  was  staying,  a  man  named  Potter,  and 
this  worthy  suggested  Youngblood  to  him 
as  just  the  man  likely  to  suit  him.  The 
hunter  being  approached  on  the  subject, 
inquired  how  they  proposed  to  go,  remark- 
ing that  if  it  was  to  be  on  foot,  he  would 
rather  be  excused.    The  New  Yorker,  how- 

059) 


160 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


ever,  promised  to  take  a  two-horse  carriage 
and  a  fine  span  owned  by  Potter,  and  Young- 
blood  agreed  to  go  as  pilot  for  $3  a  day. 
All  arrangements  were  soon  completed,  and 
they  started  out,  taking  the  landlord  with 
them. 

They  crossed  the  Arkansas  Eiver,  went 
about  thirty  miles  south,  and  camped  for  the 
night  near  the  north  fork  of  Cimarron  Creek. 
The  next  day,  after  driving  about  twenty 
miles,  they  struck  game.  The  landlord 
wanted  to  show  what  he  could  do,  and 
declared  that  he  could  drive  close  up  to  the 
herd.  Youngblood  let  him  have  his  way, 
and,  with  the  New  Yorker,  took  his  seat  in 
the  back  part  of  the  carriage,  where  they 
would  have  a  good  chance  to  shoot.  Potter 
lashed  his  horses  without  mercy,  while  the 
other  two  sat  patiently  waiting  until  they 
got  within  range;  but,  alas!  the  looked-for 
opportunity  never  came,  for,  after  running 
at  full  speed,  the  horses  became  winded  and 
had  to  stop.  While  halting,  and  after  the 
team  had  became  somewhat  refreshed,  a  great 


A  GREAT  BUFFALO  HUNT. 


161 


herd  of  buffalo,  which  no  man's  eye  could 
number,  hove  in  sight  about  two  miles  away. 
This  time  the  old  hunter  took  charge,  and 
some  lively  shooting  ensued.  When  the 
buffalo  had  passed,  four  were  lying  on  the 
ground  dead,  or  apparently  so.  One  was  on 
its  back,  and  as  the  party  approached,  Pot- 
ter remarked  that  he  had  "  given  that  one 
h-1;"  but  as  a  closer  examination  revealed 
no  blood,  and,  furthermore,  the  animal  was 
breathing  rather  lively  for  a  dead  buffalo, 
Youngblood  conjectured  that  it  had  been 
knocked  into  the  ditch  by  the  others  and  had 
been  unable  to  get  out.  He  took  the  precau- 
tion, therefore,  to  observe  it  at  a  point  a  few 
feet  away,  as  he  was  expecting  it  to  make  a 
mighty  effort  and  get  on  its  feet  in  a  way 
that  would  make  it  unsafe  to  be  too  near  it; 
and  the  result  proved  that  he  was  right, 
for  in  a  few  moments  the  animal,  summon- 
ing all  its  strength,  floundered,  plunged,  and 
finally  gained  its  feet,  causing  a  general  scat- 
tering among  its  captors,  who,  however, 

recovered  from  their  alarm  in  time  to  per- 
11 


162 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


f orate  it'  with  bullets  before  any  damage  was 
done.  During  the  commotion,  the  herd  stam- 
peded, and  the  horses,  becoming  frightened, 
mixed  with  them,  and  ran  fully  three  miles 
before  they  got  clear  and  stopped.  When 
the  horses  were  recovered,  Potter  proposed 
to  make  another  raid  upon  the  herd,  but 
Youngblood  objected,  as  they  already  had 
more  meat  than  they  could  carry  back  with 
them,  and  he  disliked  to  see  it  wasted.  The 
New  Yorker,  however,  was  anxious  to  go,  so, 
leaving  Youngblood  to  dress  the  four  they 
had  already  killed,  he  and  Potter  started  out 
again  after  the  herd,  which  had  begun  to  get 
together  again.  In  about  four  hours  they 
returned  with  thirty-six  buffalo-tongues, 
having  left  the  carcasses  to  rot  upon  the 
plains.  This  was  unquestionably  splendid 
luck,  but  it  annoyed  Youngblood  that  there 
should  be  such  a  useless  waste  of  meat.  The 
New  Yorker,  however,  did  not  care  for  this, 
but  was  so  overjoyed  with  his  achievement 
that  he  said  he  wouldn't  take  $1,000  for 
the  sport  he  had  had. 


A  GREAT  BUFFALO-HUNT.  163 

While  out  on  this  three  days'  trip,  they 
saw  large  numbers  of  wild  horses,  and  on 
their  return,  Youngblood  happened  to  speak 
of  them  to  a  man  named  Boslen,  who  became 
considerably  interested,  and  finally  asked  the 
hunter  what  he  would  charge  to  catch  some 
of  them  for  him.  The  latter  answered  that 
he  did  not  own  enough  saddle-horses  for 
such  a  chase;  but  Boslen  promised  to  furnish 
as  many  horses  and  men  as  he  wanted, 
and  offered  him  $5  a  day  if  he  would 
go.  After  some  deliberation,  Youngblood 
decided  that  he  did  not  care  to  go  in  that 
way,  for  if  he  should  fail  to  catch  any,  his 
employer  might  accuse  him  of  not  trying; 
but  he  told  Boslen  that  if  he  would  give 
him  six  saddle-horses,  two  good  hands, 
pay  all  expenses,  and  pay  him  $5  a  head  for 
all  he  could  catch,  he  would  go.  To  this 
proposition  the  other  readily  agreed,  and 
the  bargain  was  concluded  forthwith.  The 
horses  were  selected,  and  the  preparations  for 
the  new  chase  were  soon  made.  Several 
droves  were  found  before  one  was  struck  that 


164 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


suited  them.  The  drove  that  it  was  finally 
concluded  to  tackle  was  one  that  Youngblood 
had  seen  many  times  before  when  out  after 
buffalo,  and  he  was  well  acquainted  with 
their  range.  They  went  as  close  as  they 
dared,  and,  after  carefully  examining  them 
through  a  pair  of  field-glasses,  Boslen 
declared  that  they  would  do.  The  first 
thing  to  be  done  now  was  to  select  a  place 
for  the  camp  as  near  as  possible  to  the  center 
of  the  range  of  the  drove,  for  wild  horses, 
when  chased,  seldom  or  never  leave  their 
range,  although  this  may  sometimes  embrace 
hundreds  of  square  miles.  It  is  necessary, 
therefore,  for  the  hunter  to  know  the  range 
and  establish  his  headquarters  near  the  cen- 
ter of  it,  where  fresh  horses  for  the  chasers 
must  always  be  kept  in  readiness. 

The  point  that  Youngblood  decided  to  be 
the  best  for  the  base  of  his  operations  was 
his  old  familiar  camping-place  on  Cimarron 
Creek,  about  thirty  miles  west  from  where 
they  then  were.  This  he  chose  as  the  most 
suitable  place,  both  because  it  was  near  the 


A  GEEAT  BUFFALO-HUNT.  165 

center  of  the  range  of  his  game  and  because 
there  was  plenty  of  good  water  there,  while, 
in  most  places,  the  lakes  were  nearly  dried 
up,  and  the  little  water  that  was  left  was 
fast  disappearing.  So  the  next  morning 
Boslin  and  the  two  men  started  for  the 
camping-place,  while  our  hunter  rode  off  in 
pursuit  of  the  wild  horses.  His  mount  was 
a  good  one,  and  he  was  soon  quite  close  to 
the  drove.  When  his  intended  prey  per- 
ceived him,  some  of  them  elevated  their 
heads  and  stood  like  equine  statues,  watch- 
ing his  every  movement,  while  others,  with 
their  tails  reared  in  the  air,  and  taking  a 
long,  high  trot,  moved  round  among  their 
companions,  whinnying  as  if  asking  for 
counsel.  As  the  hunter  came  nearer  and 
nearer,  the  whole  herd  began  to  circle  around 
him,  with  their  heads  turned  toward  him. 
Occasionally  one  would  stop  to  get  a  better 
look  at  him,  and,  after  satisfying  his  curi- 
osity, would  snort  loudly  and  move  on  with 
the  rest.  Youngblood  reined  in  his  horse, 
and  sat  perfectly  motionless,  waiting  for 


166 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


them  to  move  off,  which,  after  making  half 
a  dozen  circles  or  so,  they  finally  did,  going 
west,  toward  the  place  where  he  had  told 
Boslen  to  fix  their  headquarters.  He  fol- 
lowed them  as  fast  as  he  could,  bat,  as  they 
were  going  at  full  speed,  in  spite  of  his  best 
endeavors,  he  could  only  just  manage  to 
keep  them  in  sight.  Shortly  after  they  start- 
ed, they  struck  into  a  wagon-road,  called  the 
Doby  Wall  Trail,  and,  following  it,  passed 
close  to  the  camp.  Youngblood  was  anxious 
to  change  horses,  but  he  knew  that  it  was 
too  soon  for  his  companions  to  have  arrived, 
so  he  kept  on  in  pursuit.  His  plan  was  to 
chase  them  down  and  capture  the  whole 
drove.  He  might  have  followed  them  for 
awhile,  and  then  dashed  in  and  lassoed  a 
few,  but  this  would  not  have  satisfied  his 
ambition.  He  was  aware  that  as  the  wild 
horse  gets  tired,  he  grows  tamer,  and,  if 
the  would-be  captor  has  suitable  head- 
quarters, where  he  can  procure  fresh  mounts, 
so  as  not  to  give  a  drove  much  rest,  the 
whole  herd  can  be  easily  caught. 


A  GREAT  BUFFALO-HUNT.  167 

After  passing  the  proposed  camping-place, 
tlie  horses  proceeded  westward  to  the  Kansas- 
Colorado  State  line;  here  they  turned  to  the 
south,  and  kept  this  course  until  they  struck 
the  south  fork  of  Cimarron  Creek,  where 
they  turned  to  the  east,  passing  the  camp 
again,  this  time  to  the  south.  Youngblood 
took  advantage  of  this  to  change  steeds,  and 
was  after  them  again  with  more  vigor  than 
ever.  They  made  their  way  east  to  the  place 
where  he  had  first  started  them.  Here  he 
met  two  men  who  had  lost  their  way  two 
days  before,  and,  as  the  sky  was  cloudy,  had 
been  unable  to  find  their  bearings.  They 
were  nearly  starved,  and  begged  for  some- 
thing to  eat.  On  the  frontier,  it  is  always 
customary  to  divide,  when  there  is  anything 
to  divide,  so  Youngblood  gave  them  a  bis- 
cuit apiece,  half  of  all  he  had,  told  them 
which  way  to  go,  and  resumed  his  chase. 
The  drove  did  not  seem  disposed  now  to  go 
anywhere  near  the  camp,  but  galloped  back 
and  forth  across  the  country,  between  Wild 
Horse  and  White  lakes.    This  little  pro- 


168 


A  MIGHTY  HUJSTTER. 


ceeding  did  not  please  our  friend  at  all,  for 
his  nag  was  getting  fagged,  and  if  lie  should 
be  forced  to  go  all  the  way  to  camp  to  change, 
it  would  give  the  wild  horses  a  chance  to 
rest,  and  he  would  lose  nearly,  if  not  quite, 
all  that  he  had  accomplished  in  two  days' 
hard  work.  Just  as  he  was  trying  to  make 
up  his  mind  what  to  do,  as  good  luck  would 
have  it,  he  fell  in  with  a  cow-boy,  who,  for  a 
consideration  of  $5,  agreed  to  go  to  the  camp 
and  tell  Boslen  to  send  a  fresh  horse  to 
meet  him  on  the  old  Santa  Fe  trail.  The 
horses  were  now  getting  pretty  well  tired, 
and,  almost  directly  after  the  meeting  with 
the  cow-boy,  they  turned  and  started  off  in 
the  direction  of  Cimarron  Creek. 

Youngblood  passed  that  night  within  ten 
miles  of  camp,  and  started  bright  and  early 
the  next  morning  to  intercept  the  men  wIlo 
were  to  bring  the  horse.  He  struck  the 
Santa  Fe  trail  just  in  the  nick  of  time,  and 
after  refreshing  the  inner  man,  he  mounted 
the  new  horse,  a  strong,  powerful  beast,  and 
was  off  once  more  on  the  chase    He  found 


A  GREAT  BUFFALO-HUNT.  169 

his  wild  horses  near  the  place  where  he  had 
left  them,  and,  to  his  delight,  as  it  showed 
that  they  were  pretty  well  tuckered  out, 
found  most  of  them  lying  down.  These  ani- 
mals are  possessed  of  the  most  wonderful 
endurance,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  fact  that 
that  night  one  of  the  mares  gave  birth  to  a 
colt,  which  traveled  with  the  rest  all  the  next 
day.  About  an  hour  after  sunset,  Young- 
blood  halted  for  the  night,  knowing  the  colt 
would  keep  the  herd  near  by.  By  this  time 
he  had  them  so  cowed  and  worried  by  their 
hard,  continuous  racing  over  the  country, 
that  they  grazed  all  around  him  during  the 
night,  and  when  he  awoke  the  next  morning 
he  found  nearly  all  of  them  lying  down, 
stretched  out  as  if  dead.  He  had  no  mercy 
on  them,  however,  but  started  them  off 
again.  They  were  evidently  very  stiff  and 
sore,  and  they  moved  slowly  away  in  a  west- 
erly direction  into  Colorado,  where  they  took 
nearly  the  same  route  as  before,  turning 
south  and  then  east,  back  into  Kansas. 
When  their  indomitable  hunter  stopped  for 


170 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTEE. 


the  night,  he  knew  that  he  must  be  some- 
where near  camp,  but  it  was  so  dark  and 
cloudy  that  he  could  see  no  signs  of  it.  In 
the  morning,  however,  he  found  that  his 
surmises  were  correct,  and  that  he  was  within 
half  a  mile  of  his  friends,  much  nearer,  even, 
than  he  had  supposed.  He  found  them  all 
asleep,  but  soon  waked  them  up.  After  a  good 
breakfast,  he  took  another  horse  and  went 
back  to  look  up  the  herd.  This  time  he  took 
one  of  the  men  with  him  to  take  care  of  the 
colt  when  it  should  give  down,  which  he 
knew  would  happen  in  a  very  short  time  now. 

He  found  the  horses  so  sore  and  worn  out 
that  they  were  quite  docile,  and  he  could 
lead  them  about  in  almost  any  direction  he 
pleased.  At  night  he  had  them  back  again 
near  the  camp,  and  he  told  Boslen  to  be 
ready  to  start  with  them  the  next  day  for 
Lakin  Station;  but  when  morning  came,  he 
decided  it  would  be  safer  to  tire  them  out  a 
little  bit  more,  and  when  he  finally  did 
undertake  to  drive  them  in,  he  took  a  direct 
line  for  the  station,  across  the  sand-hills. 


A  GREAT  BUFFALO-HUNT.  171 

They  were  two  days  in  crossing  the  hills, 
during  which  time  the  horses  were  absolutely 
without  water,  and  when  a  lake  was  finally 
reached,  they  drank  to  repletion,  from  the 
effects  of  which  eight  of  them  died,  a  loss  of 
$40  to  Youngblood.  The  rest  were  driven 
some  twelve  miles  to  a  cow-corral,  where 
they  were  corraled,  closed  in,  and  taken 
across  the  river  to  Lakin,  where  the  whole 
drove,  twenty-four  head,  was  safely  housed. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


AFTER  WILD  HORSES  AGAIN — HOSTILE  RED- 
SKINS—  A  BIG  DRIVE  —  A  CLOSE  BRUSH 
WITH  INDIANS. 

His  good  luck  in  his  first  chase  after  wild 
horses  inspired  Youngblood  to  try  it  again; 
so  he  wrote  to  Missouri  for  his  son  and  son- 
in-law  to  come  out  and  join  him,  and  in  the 
meantime  allowed  the  saddle-horses  to  rest 
and  recuperate.  The  two  young  men  arrived 
in  a  few  days,  and  the  three  started  out 
again  south  of  the  Arkansas  River.  When 
they  reached  the  region  of  Wild  Horse  Lake, 
they  found  that  it  had  been  raining  very 
heavily  and  the  lakes  were  all  full,  so  Young- 
blood  told  the  boys  to  establish  a  camp  about 
ten  miles  west  of  Wild  Horse  Lake,  while  he 
himself  went  in  pursuit  of  a  herd  of  seventy- 
two  horses  which  they  had  discovered.  He 
drove  them  for  twelve  days,  but  at  the  end 
of  that  time  the  provisions  ran  low,  and  it 

(173) 


174 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


became  necessary  to  send  one  of  the  boys 
back  to  the  station  for  the  necessaries  of  life. 
While  he  was  preparing  for  the  expedition, 
a  herd  of  buffalo  came  in  sight,  so  Young- 
blood  ordered  the  horses  to  be  put  into  the 
wagon,  so  that  he  might  procure  a  load  of 
meat  to  send  into  the  station;  but  as  they 
were  going  out  after  the  buffalo,  he  dis- 
covered a  band  of  Indians,  about  three  miles 
away,  coming  toward  them. 

Youngblood  Junior  was  just  about  to  go 
after  a  young  antelope,  but  his  father  stopped 
him,  as  there  was  no  telling  whether  the 
Indians  were  friendly  or  not,  and  he  wanted 
to  be  prepared  for  any  emergency.  He 
explained  to  the  boys  that  it  was  possible 
that  they  might  have  to  fight,  and  warned 
them  to  keep  cool  and  not  get  excited.  He 
then  ordered  them  to  get  all  the  ammunition 
together,  while  he  went  out  to  reconnoiter 
and  see  how  the  land  lay.  Accordingly,  he 
walked  200  or  300  yards  away  from  the  camp, 
and  took  up  a  position  where  he  could  watch 
the  movements  of  the  Indians.    They  came 


AFTER  WILD  HORSES  AGAHNT.  175 


down  into  the  bed  of  the  creek,  which  was 
about  a  mile  wide,  and  disappeared  from 
sight.  Youngblood  now  shifted  his  position, 
so  that  he  could  see  them  the  moment  they 
emerged  into  view.  They  came  out  about 
half  a  mile  away  from  him,  and  were  evident- 
ly surprised  when  they  discovered  the  little 
camp.  They  immediately  halted,  gathered 
together  in  a  close  group,  and  seemed  to  be 
holding  a  consultation.  Youngblood  showed 
himself,  and  signaled  to  them  to  find  out 
what  tribe  they  belonged  to,  but  they  paid 
no  attention  whatever.  He  then  signaled  to 
know  if  they  were  friendly  and  what  they 
wanted,  but  with  no  more  success  than 
formerly;  his  signals  remained  unanswered. 
He  recognized  at  once  that  they  meant  no 
good,  and  hurried  back  to  camp.  He  had 
scarcely  time  to  get  things  in  readiness,  when 
he  perceived  that  the  Indians  had  formed, 
and  were  about  to  make  an  attack.  The 
moment  they  started,  he  lay  down  flat  on 
his  stomach,  and  leveled  his  gun,  prepared 
to  drop  the  foremost  as  soon  as  he  was  near 


176 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


enough;  but  the  Indian  perceived  his  inten- 
tion, and  whirling  his  horse  about,  galloped 
back.  The  next  followed  him,  and  the  next 
in  like  manner,  until  the  whole  band  was 
out  of  range,  when  they  stopped  and  held 
another  council.  Youngblood  climbed  up  to 
the  top  of  his  wagon  to  keep  an  eye  on  them, 
and  saw  that  they  were  preparing  to  sur- 
round the  camp.  The  hill  was  in  the  shape 
of  a  half-circle,  and  their  plan  was  to  go 
around  back  of  it,  and  surprise  the  hunters 
by  an  attack  from  an  unexpected  place.  As 
soon  as  Youngblood  recognized  their  inten- 
tions, he  told  the  boys  to  jump  into  the 
wagon  and  drive  to  the  top  of  the  hill  as  fast 
as  they  could,  so  as  to  intercept  the  red-skins. 
He  himself  sprang  on  his  saddle-horse  and 
dashed  away  to  the  summit,  where  the  whole 
game  at  once  became  evident.  They  were 
coming  round  the  hill,  stationing  one  of  their 
number  about  every  100  yards,  and  in  a  short 
time  the  whole  place  would  have  been  sur- 
rounded. Youngblood  threw  himself  off  his 
horse,  and  crawled  cautiously  up  to  the  crest 


AFTER  WILD  HORSES  AGAIN. 


177 


of  the  Mil,  where  he  could  have  picked  off 
an  Indian  at  every  shot;  but  before  he 
had  a  chance  to  fire,  they  saw  him,  and 
recognizing  that  they  were  beaten,  threw 
themselves  flat  upon  their  horses  and  dashed 
away,  not  stopping  until  they  were  entirely 
out  of  sight. 

They  did  not  leave  the  hill  that  night,  but 
picketed  their  horses  and  remained  there  till 
morning.  Youngblood  knew  that  there 
would  be  no  further  attack  that  night,  but 
the  boys  were  sure  that  they  would  get  their 
hair  lifted,  and  in  the  morning  were  afraid 
to  go  back  to  camp  alone,  so  Youngblood 
accompanied  them,  and  after  laying  in  a 
good  stock  of  provisions,  started  out  to  see 
what  had  become  of  the  wild  horses.  These 
were  found  without  difficulty,  and  Young- 
blood followed  them,  with  various  ups  and 
downs,  for  fifteen  days,  at  the  end  of  which 
time  they  were  tamed  and  docile.  He  then 
got  one  of  the  boys  to  help  him,  and  began 
to  drive  them  toward  the  station.  He  had 
had  a  long  chase,  and  his  saddle-horses  were 

12 


178 


A  MIGHTY*  HUNTEB. 


considerably  jaded,  so  much  so  that  when 
within  about  thirty -five  miles  of  the  station, 
he  found  that  he  would  have  to  have  fresh 
ones.  There  was  nothing  to  be  done  except 
to  leave  the  boys  to  manage  as  well  as  they 
could,  while  he  rode  forward,  and  procuring 
three  fresh  horses,  returned  to  find  them  a 
little  nearer  than  when  he  had  left  them. 
Everything  went  well  until  they  attempted 
to  corral  them,  in  order  to  get  them  across 
the  river.  The  horses  were  afraid  to  go  into 
the  corral,  and  could  not  be  persuaded  to 
do  so,  and  so  Youngblood  gave  it  up  as  a  bad 
job,  and  swam  them  across  the  river.  He 
was  a  little  afraid  to  attempt  the  experiment, 
but  it  turned  out  all  right,  and  the  next  day 
he  drove  sixty-nine  head  into  the  station. 
This  was  a  remarkably  good  haul;  but  catch- 
ing wild  horses  was,  on  the  whole,  by  no 
means  desirable  work,  and  did  not  pay  as 
well  as  one  would  suppose,  as  it  was  a  long, 
wearisome  job  to  capture  a  drove,  and  the 
horses  being,  as  a  rule,  small  and  scrawny, 
sold  for  almost  nothing. 


AFTER  WILD  HORSES  AGAIN.  179 

TMfci  was  our  hunter's  last  wild  horse  chase 
for  that  season,  for  it  suited  him  much  bet- 
ter to  hunt  buffalo,  and  he  managed  to  pro- 
cure a  contract  to  furnish  meat  for  the  hotels. 

He  sent  his  sons  home,  and  hired  a  man 
named  Black  to  go  with  him;  but  the  Indians 
proved  so  troublesome  that  he  only  remained 
with  him  a  few  days,  and  Youngblood  was 
left  to  hunt  alone,  He  established  his  camp 
upon  the  Pawnee  River,  right  on  the  old 
Indian  trail,  and  went  to  work  to  see  what 
he  could  accomplish  single-handed.  The 
first  night  he  was  left  alone  he  began  to  have 
fears  of  the  Indians,  and  during  the  night 
these  fears  grew  upon  him  more  and  more, 
until  he  found  it  impossible  to  dismiss  them. 
His  apprehensions  banished  sleep,  and  the 
next  morning  he  was  up  bright  and  early, 
and  shifted  his  quarters  to  a  place  about 
three  miles  back  on  the  river,  but  still  on  the 
trail.  Somehow,  however,  he  did  not  feel 
much  safer  there  than  he  did  before,  so  he 
hitched  up  his  horses  and  drove  to  the  top  of 
a  hill  about  a  mile  and  a  half  further  on. 


180  A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


Here  lie  halted,  and  looking  round  to  see  what 
he  conld  see,  discovered,  a  couple  of  miles  to 
the  northeast,  something  moving  toward  him. 
At  first  he  thought  it  was  buffalo,  but  in 
another  moment  he  saw  that  it  did  not  move 
like  buffalo,  and  as  the  mass  came  nearer,  he 
became  aware  that  it  consisted  of  mounted 
men,  and  he  knew  at  once  that  it  was  a  band 
of  Indians  moving  toward  him,  and  began 
to  make  preparations  to  give  them  a  warm 
reception.  He  knew  that  the  only  show  for 
him  was  to  make  a  fight  for  it,  and  he  began 
to  seek  for  a  position  that  would  give  him 
the  most  advantage  possible.  The  most  suit- 
able spot  for  a  fight  that  he  could  see  was  a 
somewhat  elevated  place  about  a  quarter  of 
a  mile  to  his  left.  Here  he  posted  himself, 
and  commenced  filling  his  empty  cartridges. 
The  Indians  were  rapidly  approaching,  and 
it  seemed  to  him  that  his  fingers  were  heavy 
as  lead,  and  that,  though  he  was  working 
for  dear  life,  he  never  made  such  slow  prog- 
ress before.  There  Avere,  fortunately,  only 
six  of  the  red-skins,  and  he  was  confident 


AFTER  WILD  HORSES  AGAIN. 


181 


that,  with  anything  like  a  fair  show,  he 
would  escape  with  a  whole  skin.  He  lay 
close  until  they  were  about  200  yards  off, 
when  he  rose  and  waved  his  frying-pan  at 
them.  With  a  yell,  they  dashed  toward 
him,  and  although  he  motioned  to  them  to 
stop,  they  paid  no  attention,  but  kept  on  at 
a  break-neck  pace.  Dropping  on  one  knee, 
he  rested  his  gun  on  the  other,  and  leveled 
it  at  the  foremost.  At  this  maneuver  they 
whirled  with  their  horses  sideways  toward 
him,  and  throwing  themselves  over  on  their 
saddles  on  the  farthest  side,  hung  over  so 
that  Youngblood  could  not  see  them  at  all. 

Occasionally  they  would  peep  over  their 
horses'  withers,  to  see  what  he  was  doing, 
and  to  watch  for  an  opportunity  to  rush 
upon  him  unawares.  For  some  minutes 
Youngblood  and  his  opponents  remained  in 
this  relative  position,  when  suddenly  the 
Indians  slipped  off  their  ponies  on  the  oppo- 
site side,  careful  to  keep  their  bodies  pro- 
tected, but  with  an  eye  upon  the  hunter  and 
his  rifle  all  the  while.    Still  holding  his  gun 


182 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


in  a  position  to  cover  any  one  of  them  in  an 
instant,  Youngblood  called  out  to  know 
what  tribe  they  belonged  to,  but  the  only 
answer  he  could  obtain  was  "  Yah!" 

"Shriam?"  he  asked. 

"Yah!"  came  the  answer. 

"Are  you  Ogallahs,  Arrapahoes,  Utes,  or 
what?" 

The  same  unvarying  reply  was  wafted 
back  to  him.  He  then  lowered  his  gun,  but 
still  held  it  so  he  could  bring  it  into  position 
at  once.  The  Indians  no  w  began  to  separate, 
and  moved  to  the  right  and  left  as  though  they 
intended  to  surround  him.  He  motioned 
them  with  his  gun  to  stay  together,  and 
they  responded  by  gestures,  signifying  that 
they  were  hungry  and  wanted  something  to 
eat.  Youngblood  was  pretty  confident  that 
this  was  only  a  trick  to  get  him  off  his 
guard,  so  he  moved  cautiously  toward  the 
wagon,  at  the  same  time  watching  them  very 
narrowly  to  surprise  any  suspicious  move- 
ment on  their  part.  He  had  taken  only  a 
few  steps  when  one  of  them  made  a  rush 


AFTER  WILD  HORSES  AGAIN.  183 


toward  him,  the  most  unfortunate  action  of 
his  life,  for,  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell 
it,  there  was  a  sharp  report — the  Indian  with 
a  cry  of  "  Ow!  ow!  ow!"  covered  his  face 
with  his  hands  and  fell  lifeless  to  the  ground. 
Youngblood,  with  an  imperious  gesture, 
motioned  the  others  to  come  to  him,  but 
warned  them  to  keep  close  together,  so  that 
he  could  cover  them  with  his  gun.  They 
came  forward,  leaving  their  guns  hanging  on 
their  saddles,  in  pretense  of  friendship. 
When  they  were  within  perhaps  fifteen 
paces,  he  ordered  them  to  halt,  an  order  they 
at  once  obeyed,  but  expressed  a  desire  to 
shake  hands,  constantly  repeating,  "How, 
how,  how!" 

Our  friend  found  himself  in  a  decidedly 
delicate  position,  for  they  could,  if  they  had 
chosen,  easily  have  overpowered  him  by  mere 
force  of  numbers;  they  were  sure,  however, 
that  some  of  them  would  have  to  pay  the 
penalty  with  their  lives,  and  therefore  did 
not  care  to  make  an  open  attack,  but  pre- 
ferred to  take  him  at  a  disadvantage,  if  pos- 


184 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


sible.  Youngblood,  on  his  side,  could  easily 
have  shot  one  or  more  of  them  down,  but  he 
was  afraid  to  do  so,  for  he  did  not  know  what 
effect  such  an  action  might  have  on  the  sur- 
vivors. It  might  terrify  them  so  that  they 
would  run  away,  or  it  might  exasperate  them 
and  cause  them  to  attack  and  overpower 
him,  which  would  be  no  difficult  matter  in 
the  end,  although  he  was  determined  to  sell 
his  life  at  the  dearest  possible  price.  It  was 
the  most  trying  time  our  hero  ever  experi- 
enced, and  he  can  not  look  back  on  it  now 
without  a  shudder.  For  more  than  an  hour 
he  held  them  at  arm's,  or  rather  gun's, 
length,  when  they  gave  up  all  hope  of  try- 
ing to  shake  hands  with  him,  and  began  to 
try  to  steal  back  to  their  guns.  But  Young- 
blood  was  alive  to  the  situation,  and  when 
one  of  them  would  make  a  move  toward  his 
horse,  he  instantly  covered  him  and  ordered 
him  back  to  the  squad.  He  noticed  that  one 
of  them  was  doing  his  best  to  assume  a  care- 
less air,  and  seemed  to  be  aimlessly  twirling 
a  lariat  which  he  held  in  his  hand.  After 


AFTER  WILD  HORSES  AGAIN. 


185 


swinging  it  round  for  awhile,  he  let  it  slip, 
apparently  by  accident,  and  one  end  of  it  fell 
at  the  white  man's  feet.  Here  he  let  it  lie 
for  a  moment,  and  then  began  winding  it  up; 
but,  instead  of  drawing  the  rope  toward  him, 
he  f ollowed  it,  gradually  approaching  nearer 
and  nearer  his  enemy.  Youngblood  was  too 
cunning  and  too  well  versed  in  Indian  tac- 
tics not  to  understand  this  maneuver.  He 
knew  it  was  no  time  for  dilly-dallying,  and 
he  at  once  put  a  stop  to  the  proceeding  by 
an  action  which  at  the  same  time  finished 
the  existence  of  the  wily  strategist.  The 
others,  under  cover  of  the  smoke,  sprang  to 
their  horses  and  hurried  away,  quickly  dis- 
appearing on  the  horizon,  leaving  their  con- 
queror weak  and  faint  from  the  long- 
continued  strain  that  had  been  imposed  upon 
him.  A  little  later  in  the  day,  this  same 
band  ran  across  a  man  named  Matthews, 
who,  with  two  other  men,  was  driving  a  herd 
of  cattle,  and,  by  an  appearance  of  the 
greatest  friendship,  succeeded  in  throw- 
ing them  off  their  guard.    After  shaking 


186 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


hands  with  them  in  the  most  cordial  manner, 
they  asked  for  something  to  eat— an  Indian, 
by  the  way,  is  always  hungry — and  partook 
liberally  of  what  was  offered  them.  But 
they  were  only  waiting  for  an  opportunity, 
and  no  sooner  did  it  appear  than  they  shot 
two  of  their  hosts  down.  Matthews,  the 
survivor,  sprang  on  his  horse  and  dashed 
away  in  time  to  save  his  life,  but  not,  how- 
ever, without  receiving  a  severe  bullet  wound 
in  the  shoulder  from  a  shot  sent  after  him 
as  he  was  fleeing. 

This  incident  in  itself  is  sufficient  to  show 
the  treacherous  nature  of  the  red  man  of  the 
forest,  and  how  worthless  are  his  professions 
of  friendship.  Youngblood  declares  that 
he  never  saw  one  that  he  could  trust,  and  he 
firmly  believes  that  his  suspicions  have  more 
than  once  saved  his  life.  The  only  Indians 
that  he  ever  saw  that  were  not  dangerous 
were  dead  ones. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


DISAPPOINTMENT — BAD    WEATHER — FRIGHT- 
ENING A  SCHOOL — A  CLOSE  SHAVE. 

After  his  little  experience  with  the  Indians, 
Youngblood  determined  to  stay  alone  no 
longer,  and  immediately  went  across  to  Sil- 
ver Lake  to  join  an  old  hunter  who  was 
encamped  there,  and  whose  equal  in  a  scrim- 
mage with  red-skins  it  was  hard  to  find. 
Many  an  Indian  had  dropped  at  the  crack 
of  his  rifle,  and  he  was  well  known  among 
them  and  as  universally  feared  as  he  was 
known.  The  two  of  them  together,  at  ten 
minutes'  notice,  could  have  made  it  decidedly 
warm  for  any  number  of  reds  that  were 
likely  to  attack  them;  but,  to  our  friend's 
intense  disappointment,  when  he  arrived  at 
the  camp  he  found  that  the  hunter  had 
gone  into  the  station,  and  he  was  compelled 
to  remain  alone  after  all,  with  the  Indians  in 

(187) 


188 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


close  proximity  every "  clay.  He  continued 
hunting  for  some  time,  however,  without 
being  molested  by  them,  although  he  man- 
aged to  get  into  some  other  scrapes  that 
were  not  much  pleasanter  than  an  Indian 
fight. 

One  day,  when  he  was  out  hunting,  the  sky 
clouded  over,  and  a  cold  rain  set  in,  which 
lasted  forty-eight  hours,  completely  soaking 
his  blankets  and  chilling  him  to  the  bone. 
When  the  weather  cleared,  he  went  out  for 
game,  and,  after  going  about  four  miles, 
found  two  large  buffalo  and  succeeded  in 
dispatching  them  both.  It  was  still  very 
cold  for  October,  had  clouded  over  again  and 
was  beginning  to  snow;  so  he  turned  out 
his  team,  and,  after  dressing  the  animals 
which  he  had  killed,  he  dragged  them  close 
together,  back  to  back,  laid  his  blankets  over 
them,  and  on  top  of  the  blankets  spread  the 
green  hides  with  the  hairy  side  down;  he 
then  crawled  in  between  the  hides  and  blank- 
ets and  lay  there  for  two  days,  until  the  storm 
w^as  over.    It  was  warm  enough,  but  it  was 


DISAPPOINTMENT. 


189 


impossible  to  make  a  fire,  and  all  that  he  had 
to  eat  were  a  few  handf uls  of  flour.  While 
he  lay  there  the  buffalo  swarmed  all  around 
him,  and,  as  soon  as  the  wea/fcher  allowed, 
he  commenced  to  scatter  them.  He  killed 
two,  and,  loading  the  four  on  his  wagon, 
drove  through  the  slushy  roads,  for  the  snow 
was  now  melting,  to  the  place  where  he  had 
camped  during  the  rain-storm,  and  discov- 
ered that  a  band  of  Indians  had  been  there, 
and  had  but  recently  left.  It  was  a  narrow 
escape,  but  "  a  miss  is  as  good  as  a  mile," 
and  there  was  no  use  in  getting  frightened 
after  the  danger  was  all  over.  This  particu- 
lar spring  was  a  famous  camping  place,  di- 
rectly on  the  Indian  trail,  but  as  much 
frequented  by  white  men  as  by  red-skins. 
He  thought  he  might  find  some  game  further 
on,  and,  with  this  end  in  view,  drove  for  sev- 
eral miles,  but  without  success,  and  so  con- 
cluded to  return  to  town  with  what  he 
already  had.  As  he  repassed  the  spring,  he 
saw  that  a  squad  of  Indians  were  in  posses- 
sion.   The  only  reason  he  would  have  for 


190 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


stopping  would  be  to  obtain  water,  but  as 
the  melted  snow  was  entirely  sufficient  to 
quench  his  thirst,  there  was  no  occasion  to 
run  the  risk  of  a  fight,  and  he  passed  them 
about  half  a  mile  away. 

About  a  mile  further  on,  he  discovered 
three  buffalo  lying  with  their  backs  toward 
him.  At  first  he  hesitated  about  killing 
them,  for  the  report  of  his  gun  would 
probably  apprise  the  unsuspecting  Indians 
of  his  whereabouts;  but  the  temptation  was 
too  great,  and,  driving  as  near  as  he  dared, 
he  took  his  gun  and  stole  cautiously  toward 
them.  When  he  was  close  upon  them,  to  his 
horror  he  discovered  three  red  skins  coming 
up  on  the  other  side.  They  perceived  him 
at  almost  the  same  time,  and  for  some 
minutes  they  stood  perfectly  still,  watching 
each  other.  Youngblood,  however,  soon  grew 
tired  of  the  inaction,  and"  advanced  again  on 
the  buffalo,  keeping  one  eye  on  the  Indians 
as  he  did  so.  As  soon  as  the  animals  rose 
to  their  feet,  he  shot  them  down  one  after 
the  other.    He  then  brought  up  his  wagon, 


DISAPPOINTMENT. 


191 


and  placing  it  between  himself  and  the 
Indians,  who  had  squatted  down  on  the 
ground  and  were  calmly  watching  his  pro- 
ceedings, began  skinning  the  game,  but  with- 
out relaxing  his  vigilance.  The  red-skins  did 
not  seem  to  be  disposed  to  any  act  of  hostil- 
ity, and  he  finished  his  work,  loaded  the 
meat  on  his  wagon,  and  drove  away  without 
being  in  the  slightest  degree  disturbed. 

On  his  arrival  in  Sherlock,  he  found  the 
town  in  the  greatest  excitement  over  the 
Indian  outrages  and  the  killing  of  General 
Custer  and  his  command,  which  was  an  event 
of  recent  occurrence.  As  Youngblood  had 
been  out  so  long,  his  friends  felt  certain  that 
he  had  met  with  a  fate  similar  to  the  one 
which  had  befallen  that  gallant  band.  Uncle 
Sam  had  kindly  fed  and  fattened  the  red 
devils  until  they  were  in  excellent  fighting 
trim  and  were  ready  for  all  atrocities.  In 
dozens  of  localities  people  had  been  sur- 
prised by  them  and  shot  down  like  wild 
beasts;  some,  moreover,  being  tortured  and 
mutilated  in  the  most  revolting  manner,  and 


192 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


others  scalped  and  left  to  die  a  lingering 
death.  In  one  place  they  attacked  a  school 
presided  over  by  a  lady  teacher.  They  did 
not  kill  any  of  the  pupils,  for  a  wonder,  but 
satisfied  themselves  with  frightening  them 
almost  to  death.  They  pulled  their  hair, 
thumped  them,  banged  them,  pretended  to 
tomahawk  them,  and  yelled  with  laughter 
when  the  terrified  girls  begged  for  their  lives. 
Three  young  ladies  of  the  school  were  strip- 
ped entirely  naked  and  told  to  go  home  in 
that  condition.  After  sufficiently  amusing 
themselves,  the  fiends  left,  but  the  outraged 
people  rose  en  masse  in  pursuit.  The 
Indians  had  stolen  a  great  many  horses  and 
cattle,  and  the  cowboys,  who  are  more  than  a 
match  for  the  reds  and  delight  in  fighting 
them,  were  especially  eager  in  their  desire 
for  vengeance.  So  keen  was  the  chase  that 
when  the  devils  saw  their  chief,  Sitting 
Bull,  again,  it  was  with  greatly  depleted 
ranks. 

The  troops  finally  came  to  the  relief  of 
the  people,  but  there  is  so  much  red  tape  in 


DISAPPOINTMENT. 


193 


all  their  actions  that  they  nearly  always 
move  too  slow  to  catch  Indians.  Good 
work  in  this  raid,  however,  should  be  cred- 
ited to  Colonel  Lewis,  who,  with  several  of 
his  men,  was  killed  in  an  engagement  on 
White  Woman  Creek.  When  this  deplora- 
ble affair  took  place,  Youngblood  was  hunt- 
ing on  the  same  creek,  but  he  did  not  take 
much  part  in  the  fighting,  as  he  was  of  the 
opinion  that  if  the  Government  fed  and  fat- 
tened the  Indians,  and  employed  soldiers  to 
kill  them  when  in  good  condition,  it  was  as 
well  to  allow  those' whose  business  it  was  to 
attend  to  it,  to  do  so.  Still,  although  he 
took  no  active  part  in  the  hostilities,  his  busi- 
ness brought  him  into  frequent  collision  with 
the  red-skins,  but  all  the  fighting  he  did  was 
purely  a  matter  of  self-defense,  and  he  made 
it  a  point  not  to  indulge  in  any  unnecessary 
conflict. 

One  evening,  a  few  days  after  the  battle 
on  White  Woman  Creek,  Youngblood,  who 
was  out  with  a  man  named  Frank  Howard, 
saw  something  in  a  side  draw  of  the  creek 

13 


194 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


which  he  supposed  to  be  buffalo,  but  the  air 
was  so  filled  with  smoke  that  he  could  not 
distinguish  to  a  certainty.  When  with- 
in about  half  a  mile,  he  found,  by  aid  of  his 
field-glass,  that  it  was  a  band  of  Indians 
lying  on  the  ground,  holding  their  horses  by 
their  bridles.  This  was  somewhat  alarming, 
and  our  hunter  began  to  fear  that  they  had 
scouts  stationed  all  about.  He  told  Howard 
that  the  best  thing  to  be  done  was  to  with- 
draw a  few  hundred  yards  to  a  ravine  or 
washout,  and  remain  there  for  the  night. 
This  was  a  good  position,  and  would  afford 
them  a  fair  opportunity  to  repel  any  attack 
that  might  be  made  upon  them.  They  hur- 
ried their  supper  and  put  out  the  fire  as  soon 
as  possible,  that  it  might  not  betray  their 
position.  They  then  made  the  best  prepara- 
tions for  defense  they  could,  and  sat  down 
to  watch  and  wait.  Shortly  after  dark,  the 
dog,  with  an  incessant  barking  and  growling, 
began  to  dash  savagely  up  and  down  the 
ravine,  and  then  run  back  with  his  tail  be- 
tween  his    legs,    thoroughly  frightened. 


DISAPPOINTMENT. 


195 


From  these  actions,  Youngblood  knew  that 
the  Indians  were  prying  about  the  camp 
with  no  good  intent,  and  he  warned  his  com- 
panion to  be  in  readiness  to  go  to  work  at  a 
moment's  notice.  It  was  too  dark  and  smoky 
to  see  any  great  distance,  so  how  near  the 
enemy  really  was  there  was  no  way  of  tell- 
ing. After  a  while  the  dog  quieted  down, 
and  then  the  two  men  took  turns  in  watch- 
ing during  the  night.  As  soon  as  it  was 
light,  they  examined  the  ground  around  the 
camping  place,  and  found  that  the  Indians 
had  been  within  twenty  paces  of  them.  They 
were  a  remnant  of  the  band  that  had  fought 
with  Lewis  a  few  days  before,  and  probably 
made  no  attack  upon  the  two  hunters  be- 
cause they  were  dodging  the  soldiers,  and 
were  anxious  to  escape  from  that  part  of  the 
country. 

The  whites  were  not  the  only  ones  to  suffer 
during  this  outbreak,  for  the  Indians  were 
compelled  to  undergo  severe  privations.  As 
an  example,  when  they  were  scattered  in  the 
fight  on  White  Woman,  an  old  squaw  and  a 


196 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


pappoose  about  seven  years  old  could  not 
get  away,  and,  to  avoid  being  captured,  hid 
themselves  in  a  washout.  When  the  sol- 
diers left  they  did  not  know  what  to  do  or 
where  to  go,  as  their  tribe  was  broken  up, 
and  so  they  remained  where  they  were. 
They  could  obtain  plenty  of  water,  but  there 
was  nothing  to  eat  except  the  carcasses  of 
the  animals  that  had  been  slain  during  the 
fight,  and  so  severe  was  their  hunger  that 
when,  after  some  time,  they  were  discovered 
and  taken  prisoners  to  Fort  Dodge,  they  had 
almost  entirely  eaten  up  a  mule,  the  flesh  of 
which  was  horribly  putrefied,  and  the  squaw 
and  child  emitted  an  odor  scarcely  less  over- 
powering. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


ENGLISHMEN  ON  A  LARK — BETTER  SHOTS  AT 
BEER-BOTTLES  THAN  BUFFALO — A  TUSSLE 
WITH  A  CALF — HOWARD  IN  TROUBLE — 
DODGING  A  DETECTIVE. 

It  was  not  long  after  the  Indian  outbreak 
that  five  Englishmen  came  to  Lakin  Station 
on  a  lark.  They  were  not  peers  of  the  realm, 
dukes,  marquises,  or  earls,  but  honest, 
healthy,  well-bred  inhabitants  of  the  "  right 
little,  tight  little  island,"  who  had  come  to 
this  country  on  a  sight-seeing  tour,  and  were 
determined  to  have  a  good  time.  They  had 
plenty  of  money,  and  spent  it  right  royally, 
having  their  fun  and  paying  for  it,  too. 

Their  object  in  coming  to  Lakin  was  to  have 
a  buffalo-hunt  on  the  plains,  and  who  better 
could  be  found  to  lead  them  on  that  amuse- 
ment than  the  old  and  experienced  scout  and 
hunter,  Youngblood.  As  they  intended  to 
do  the  shooting  themselves  (they  were  pro- 

(197) 


198 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTEB. 


vided  with  the  best  of  guns — a  rifle  and  a 
shotgun  apiece),  he  consented  to  act  as  their 
guide  for  $5  a  day,  which  they  pronounced 
cheap  enough. 

A  two-horse  carriage  was  procured,  and 
a  full  stock  of  provisions  and  ammuni- 
tion laid  in.  Youngblood  did  not  ride  in 
the  carriage,  but  took  his  own  wagon  and 
team,  so  as  to  be  ready  for  business  when 
they  got  tired  of  paying  their  $5  a  day. 

From  Lakin  they  drove  in  a  northeasterly 
direction;  and  when  about  twenty  miles  out, 
the  Englishmen  received  their  first  sensation 
in  the  shape  of  a  large  rattlesnake,  which 
they  were  greatly  interested  in.  Youngblood 
made  it  "sing"  for  them,  and  when  he  finally 
killed  it,  one  of  them  kept  the  skin  to  be 
made  into  a  hat-band.  Then  they  all  pro- 
ceeded to  take  a  swig  of  beer,  of  which  they 
had  brought  a  large  quantity,  and  made  a  bet 
as  to  who  could  break  the  bottle  when  tossed 
rip  into  the  air.  Finally  one  succeeded,  and 
they  reentered  the  carriage,  ready  to  proceed 
with  the  journey;  but  they  had  only  gone  a 


ENGLISHMEN  OJST  A  LAKK.  199 

short  distance,  when  one  of  them,  who  had 
his  head  out  of  the  window,  exclaimed, 
"Lord,  look  there!"  and  called  out  to  the 
driver  to  stop.  Youngblood  supposed,  of 
course,  that  he  had  discovered  a  buffalo  or 
something  of  that  sort;  but  not  being  able  to 
perceive  any  himself,  followed  the  direction 
of  the  Englishman' s  eyes,  and  saw  that  the 
object  over  which  he  was  almost  going  into 
hysterics  was  a  large  specimen  of  terrapin. 
They  all  clambered  out,  turned  the  novel 
beast  over  with  their  boots,  poked  it  with 
their  guns,  and,  after  they  were  satisfied, 
drank  another  bottle,  made  a  bet  as  to  who 
could  hit  it,  broke  it,  got  into  the  carriage 
again,  and  drove  off. 

Perhaps  a  mile  further  on,  four  antelope 
came  dashing  by  at  full  speed;  and  then 
there  was  a  scene  of  unparalleled  excitement 
indeed.  All  five  of  them  jumped  out  with 
their  guns  and  began  firing  as  fast  as  they 
could.  Bullet  after  bullet  whistled  through 
the  air,  and  the  poor  antelope  ran  for  dear 
life,  badly  scared,  but  not  seriously  injured, 


200 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


and  probably  not  much  more  excited  than 
the  Englishmen  themselves.  The  hunters 
were  badly  disappointed  at  the  loss  of  their 
game,  but  consoled  themselves  by  drinking 
another  bottle  and  breaking  it  as  before. 

They  camped  for  the  night  on  a  small  creek, 
and  when  they  arose  the  next  morning,  could 
see  the  antelope  scurrying  about  in  all  direc- 
tions. The  animals  seemed  to  be  tolerably 
tame,  and  the  pleasure-hunters  kept  blazing 
away  at  them  as  they  passed  until  afternoon, 
but,  to  their  chagrin,  without  any  other  effect 
than  that  of  frightening  the  pretty  creatures. 

When  they  stopped  for  dinner,  one  of  them, 
who  was  known  among  his  companions  by 
the  sobriquet  of  u  Calamity  Jane,"  full  of  dis- 
gust at  their  ill  success,  suggested  that  they 
put  "the  old  man,"  meaning  Youngblood, 
to  shooting,  or  otherwise  they  would  be 
likely  to  starve  before  they  got  back  to  the 
station.  "  Because,"  he  added,  "we  have 
fired  five  hundred  shots  to-day  and  killed 
nothing,  and  if  this  thing  is  kept  up  we  will 
soon  be  out  of  ammunition  and  have  no  game 


ENGLISHMEN  ON  A  LARK.  201 

to  show  for  it."  The  question  was  then  put 
to  vote,  and  it  was  agreed,  without  a  dissent- 
ing voice,  that  their  guide  should  kill  them 
an  antelope. 

Youngblood  was  nothing  loath,  and  told 
them  if  they  would  all  stay  in  the  car- 
riage he  thought  he  might,  perhaps,  man- 
age to  get  them  an  antelope  for  supper. 
Long  before  the  camping-place  was  reached 
he  spied  a  drove,  and,  getting  quietly  out  of 
the  wagon,  he  slipped  up  as  close  to  them  as 
he  could.  He  did  not  want  to  run  any 
chances  of  missing,  after  having  poked  so 
much  fun  at  the  marksmanship  of  the 
others;  so  when  near  enough  to  shoot, 
he  lay  down  in  the  grass  and  waited 
for  a  good  opportunity.  This  was  not  slow 
in  coming.  In  a  few  moments  he  had  two 
within  range,  and,  taking  careful  aim,  fired, 
bringing  both  of  them  down  at  the  first  shot. 
At  this  the  men  leaped  out  of  their  carriage 
and  came  running  up  to  the  successful  sports- 
man, more  excited,  if  possible,  than  when 
they  had  fired  the  forty  or  fifty  shots  at 


202 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


the  four  scared  beasts.  After  tliey  had 
thoroughly  examined  and  wondered  over  the 
first  dead  antelope  they  had  ever  seen, 
Youngblood  removed  the  entrails,  threw  the 
carcasses  upon  the  wagon,  and  the  procession 
was  resumed.  The  Englishmen  still  kept  on 
firing  at  antelope,  badgers,  hawks,  and 
whatever  they  saw,  but  without  doing  much 
execution,  until  they  came  to  Clear  Creek, 
where  they  were  to  camp  for  the  night. 
Here  they  had  better  success,  for  there  were 
ducks  galore,  and  in  duck-shooting  they 
were,  so  to  speak,  on  their  native  heath;  and 
with  the  ducks  and  the  antelope,  the  supper 
was  a  feast  fit  for  a  king. 

In  the  morning  they  harnessed  up  again, 
and  drove  in  a  northwesterly  direction  to 
Bear  Creek,  where  they  camped  for  that 
night.  The  next  day  they  came  upon  their 
first  buffalo,  a  splendid  herd.  The  English 
gentlemen  were  very  anxious  to  kill  them 
all,  and  they  jumped  out  of  the  carriage  and 
started  boldly  toward  them,  very  much  as  if 
they  thought  the  buffalo  would  be  delighted 


ENGLISHMEN  ON  A  LARK.  203 

to  see  them;  but  when  they  were  within  about 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  them,  the  animals  raised 
their  heads,  and,  taking  a  short  survey, 
galloped  off,  leaving  the  nabobs  sadly  disap- 
pointed. They  complained  bitterly  of  their 
bad  luck  to  Youngblood,  but  he  could  not 
refrain  from  laughing,  and  told  them  that 
they  had  done  much  better  than  he  had 
expected,  as  he  had  thought  they  would 
frighten  them  away  before  they  had  got 
half  so  near. 

It  was  with  considerable  reluctance,  nev- 
ertheless, that  they  gave  up  the  buffalo 
and  returned,  for  the  rest  of  the  day,  to 
their  former  occupation  of  firing  at  ante- 
lope and  fowl,  but  with  their  usual  luck. 

That  night  the  camp  was  pitched  on  a  small 
creek  called  Rocky  Branch,  and,  while  eat- 
ing breakfast  in  the  morning,  one  of  them 
said,  with  a  rather  wry  face:  "  Mr.  Young- 
blood,  how  much  do  we  owe  you?" 

"Well,"  said  the  hunter,  "I  have  been 
with  you  for  five  days  and  at  $5  a  day,  that 
would  make  $25!" 


204 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


The  money  was  paid,  and  they  then 
announced  that  they  had  done  hunting,  and 
wanted  to  see  him  shoot  a  little. 

"All  right,"  said  Youngblood.  " If  you 
stay  with  me  awhile,  I  shall  probably  shoot 
something." 

They  then  moved  about  six  miles,  to  White 
Woman  Creek,  where  a  large  herd  of  buffalo 
was  struck.  Youngblood  killed  one  the 
first  shot,  and  then  getting  a  " stand"  on 
them,  killed  seven  more.  During  the  after- 
noon he  succeeded  in  potting  four  antelope. 
When  they  stopped  for  the  night,  he  cooked 
some  of  the  buffalo  humps  for  the  English- 
men, who  thought  it  the  finest  meat  they 
had  ever  tasted.  The  hunter  could  not  resist 
having  a  little  fun  with  them  on  account  of 
their  shooting. 

"Why,"  he  said,  uyou  had  me  for  live 
days  for  $25,  and  got  nothing,  and  in  one  day 
I  have  made  twice  that  amount." 

They  took  it  good-naturedly,  and  let  him 
joke  all  he  wanted  as  they  drove  back  to  the 
station,  where  they  had  more  of  the  humps 


ENGLISHMEN  OK  A  LAEK.  205 

for  dinner,  but  they  did  not  like  them  as 
well  as  those  Youngblood  had  cooked  on  the 
prairie,  and  finally  insisted  on  his  cooking 
them  some  more  himself. 

Youngblood  remained  but  one  day  at  the 
station  with  his  English  friends  before  bid- 
ding them  farewell  and  starting  out  again 
for  the  range  with  Howard,  a  former  com- 
panion of  his. 

At  White  Woman  Creek  a  large  herd  of 
buffalo  was  found.  They  were  standing  in  the 
creek  drinking,  but  before  Youngblood  could 
get  near  enough,  they  came  out  of  the  water 
and  started  away.  He  fired  on  them  at  long 
range,  and  killed  a  large  cow.  She  was  just 
going  up  the  bank,  and  when  the  bullet 
struck  her,  she  rolled  down  the  steep  bank, 
about  twelve  feet,  and,  falling  into  the  soft 
mud,  went  almost  entirely  under.  The  two 
men  worked  for  a  long  time  trying  to  extri- 
cate her,  but  she  was  so  firmly  imbedded  in 
the  mud  that  they  found  it  impossible  to 
move  her,  gave  it  up  as  a  bad  job,  and  went 
on  after  the  herd.    Several  shots  were  fired, 


206 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTEE. 


but  with  little  or  no  success,  the  only  dam- 
age done  being  the  breaking  the  shoulder  of 
a  calf  about  six  months  old.  The  disabled 
calf  could  not  keep  up  with  the  rest,  and 
they  followed  it  along  up  the  bed  of  a  side 
draw  until  they  perceived  the  herd  had 
stopped  to  rest  further  up  the  draw.  The 
calf  had  got  pretty  well  tired  out  by  this  time, 
and  could  easily  have  been  shot,  but  Young- 
blood  did  not  want  to  alarm  the  herd,  so  he 
headed  it  off  and  started  in  to  catch  it.  He 
could  get  tolerably  close  to  it,  but  not  close 
enough  to  lay  hands  on  it,  and  every  time  it 
passed  him,  it  would  show  fight.  It  was 
small,  and,  concluding  that  he  could  push  it 
off  without  much  difficulty,  he  finally  stood 
his  ground.  The  calf  came  on,  shaking  its 
head  viciously,  and  when  within  a  few  feet  of 
him,  made  a  sudden  dash  at  him  like  an  old 
ram.  Youngblood  had  no  time  to  even  raise 
his  hands,  and  in  another  moment  the  calf 
was  upon  him,  knocked  him  down,  and  began 
trampling  upon  him.  Finding  that  it  did 
not  mean  to  let  him  go,  he  reached  up,  seized 


ENGLISHMEN  ON  A  LAEK.  207 

it  by  the  ears,  and,  after  quite  a  tussle,  suc- 
ceeded in  throwing  it  off,  and  finished  it  with 
his  knife. 

After  dressing  it,  the  hunters  started  on 
after  the  herd,  but  had  to  follow  them 
twelve  miles  before  they  could  get  a  shot 
at  them,  and  then  only  succeeded  in  kill- 
ing one,  which  ran  on  about  three  hun- 
dred yards  before  it  fell.  This  was  on 
Beaver  Creek,  and  the  beavers  had  built  a 
dam  which  made  it  impossible  to  cross  with 
the  wagon.  As  it  was  now  about  sundown, 
Youngblood  told  Howard  to  turn  the  horses 
out,  and  he  would  go  over  and  skin  the  buf- 
falo. He  crossed  the  creek  on  the  beaver 
dam,  but  had  hardly  begun  dressing  his 
game  when  he  noticed,  some  three-quarters  of 
a  mile  away,  three  men  on  horseback  coming 
toward  him.  Thinking  them  to  be  Indians, 
he  hurried  back  and  told  Howard  to  gather 
up  the  ammunition  and  be  ready  to  repel 
an  attack.  It  proved  to  be  a  false  alarm, 
however,  as  the  riders  turned  out  to  be  cow- 
boys who  were  hunting  up  some  lost  cattle. 


208 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER, 


For  sometime  past  Youngblood  had  ob- 
served that  his  partner,  Howard,  did  not 
seem  to  be  in  an  easy  frame  of  mind,  and  he 
concluded  that  he  had  got  into  trouble  some- 
where, and  was  afraid  of  the  consequences. 
He  had  often  met  men  of  this  description  out 
on  the  plains,  and  he  had  let  the  matter  pass 
without  remarks  or  inquiries.  But  when 
they  were  about  to  start  in  this  time  with 
their  load  of  meat,  Howard  grew  more  nerv- 
ous and  uneasy  than  ever,  and  was  so  palpa- 
bly disturbed  and  worried  that  he  made  up 
his  mind  to  speak  to  him  about  it  and  give 
him  a  chance  to  unload  himself  of  his  bur- 
den and  relieve  the  strain  upon  his  mind. 

So,  when  the  opportunity  offered,  as  they 
were  driving  along,  he  asked  him  if  anything 
was  troubling  him,  and  if  he  could  do  any- 
thing to  help  him. 

"Do  I  look  as  if  anything  was  bothering 
me?"  inquired  Howard,  with  a  sorrowful 
smile. 

"Yes,  you  do,"  answered  Youngblood. 
"I  have  seen  many  a  man  in  your  condition. 


ENGLISHMEN  ON  A  LAEK.  209 

and  I  can  guess  pretty  well  what  is  the  mat- 
ter with  you.  If  you  are  in  a  difficulty  and 
half-way  innocent,  I  will  try  to  help  you  in 
some  way  or  other;  and  even  if  you  are 
guilty  of  some  crime,  I  will  agree  not  to  give 
you  away;  so  spit  it  out,  and  let's  see  what 
can  be  done.  It  is  my  opinion  that  you  made 
away  with  some  fellow  in  the  place  where 
you  came  from;  but,  whatever  it  is,  let' s  have 
it." 

At  these  last  words  Howard  looked  utterly 
astounded,  and,  as  soon  as  he  could  recover 
from  his  amazement,  said,  stammeringly: 

"Well,  you're  a  pretty  good  guesser.  I 
am  in  trouble,  and  in  the  way  you  say,  but 
I  am  not  guilty  of  willful  murder,  although 
I  confess  that  I  dread  the  consequences  of 
being  caught.  I'll  tell  you  the  whole  truth. 
This  is  the  way  it  happened  :  At  Fort  Scott, 
Missouri,  I  traded  horses  with  a  jockey — 
well,  I  just  traded  horses,  that's  all;  but  the 
next  day  he  came  to  me  and  insisted  that  I 
trade  back,  saying  that  I  had  cheated  him 
by  lying  about  my  horse.    I  told  him  that  I 

14 


210 


A  MIGHTY  HUKTEK. 


never  traded  back;  when  I  traded  and  found 
myself  cheated,  I  had  to  stand  by  my  bar- 
gain, and,  on  the  other  hand,  if  I  happen  to 
make  a  good  trade,  I  mean  to  keep  it.  At 
this  he  grew  furious,  and  said  he  would  make 
me  trade  back;  but  I  told  him  that  he  would 
do  nothing  of  the  sort.  Then  he  flew  at  me 
with  his  rawhide  whip  and  began  lashing  me 
over  the  head  and  face  with  it.  This  was 
more  than  I  could  stand,  and  as  he  was  a  big 
bully,  I  drew  my  knife  and  used  it  with  fatal 
effect.  As  soon  as  I  realized  what  I  had  done, 
I  hastened  to  make  my  escape — not  because 
I  was  afraid  of  being  hanged,  but  because  I 
knew  that  to  clear  myself  would  cause  me  a 
heap  of  trouble  and  cost  me  a  lot  of  money. 
I  had  no  friends  with  me  at  the  time,  and  I 
knew  that  the  few  spectators  were  reckless 
men  and  greatly  prejudiced  against  me.  But 
what  worries  me  most  just  now  is  that  I 
have  sent  for  my  family  to  meet  me  at  Lakin; 
they  will  be  there  to-morrow  or  next  day,  and 
I  have  been  thinking  that  the  officers  may 
follow  them  and  trace  me  out  in  that  way. 


ENGLISHMEN  ON  A  LARK.  211 

Now,  Mr.  Youngblood,  what  I  want  to  know 
is  this :  Do  you  blame  me  for  using  my 
knife  on  him,  and  will  you  do  anything 
against  me?" 

"No,"  was  the  prompt  answer,  "I  do  not 
blame  you  at  all,  if  it  happened  the  way  you 
say,  and  I  will  do  anything  I  can  to  help 
you;  so,  if  you  have  anything  you  want  me 
to  do,  let  me  hear  it." 

"  I  have  nothing  I  want  you  to  do  just  at 
present,"  he  replied,  "  except  that  when  we 
are  near  the  station,  I  would  like  to  have  you 
go  in  first,  if  you  will,  and  find  out  if  there 
are  any  strangers  in  town.  If  so,  try  to  dis- 
cover if  they  are  from  Fort  Scott  or  there- 
abouts, and  what  their  business  is.  And,  by 
the  way,  if  my  family  should  be  there  al- 
ready, you  can  tell  them  how  matters  are, 
and  let  me  know  as  soon  as  you  can  how  the 
land  lies." 

Youngblood  promised  to  fulfill  his  wishes, 
and  accordingly,  the  next  morning,  went  in 
alone.  Soon  after  his  arrival  in  Lakin,  he 
noticed  a  stranger  hanging  about,  but,  pay- 


212 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


ing  no  attention  to  liim  for  the  moment,  be- 
gan getting  rid  of  his  load  of  meat.  In  a  few 
moments  the  stranger  came  up  to  the  wagon, 
and,  examining  the  meat,  remarked  care- 
lessly that  it  was  the  first  he  had  ever  seen. 

"  Indeed,"  said  Youngblood,  feigning 
astonishment;  uwhy,  where  do  you  come 
from?" 

"From  Fort  Scott,  near  Missouri." 

This  was  enough  to  convince  our  friend 
that  he  was  a  detective  hunting  for  How- 
ard, and  he  could  not  help  wondering  at  his 
being  so  stupid  as  to  tell  where  he  came  from, 
and  so  giving  himself  away.  The  man 
evinced  much  interest  in  Youngblood,  and 
followed  him  about,  talking  to  him  at  every 
opportunity. 

"Let  me  see,"  he  asked  at  last,  "what 
is  your  name?" 

Youngblood  saw  no  harm  in  giving  that 
information,  and  told  him  his  name. 

"Do  you  hunt  for  a  living?" 

"Yes." 

"Do  you  hunt  by  yourself?" 


ENGLISHMEN  ON  A  LARK. 


213 


"  Well,  sometimes  I  do." 

"  Have  you  anybody  with  you  now?" 

"Yes,  but  I  don't  know  where  he  is." 

"Are  you  going  out  again?" 

"Yes." 

"When?" 

"I  don't  know;  it  depends  upon  circum- 
stances. I  may  go  out  to-morrow,  and  I  may 
not  go  out  for  a  week  or  more." 

"  Well,"  said  the  stranger,  with  a  sidelong 
glance,  "if  you  go  out  to-morrow,  I  would 
like  to  go  with  you." 

Youngblood  calmly  told  him  that  he  would 
see  about  it,  and  left  him. 

When  he  reached  the  hotel,  he  found  that 
Howard' s  family  were  indeed  there,  but  the 
detective,  who  had  followed  him,  watched 
him  so  closely  that  he  could  find  no  chance  to 
speak  to  Mrs.  Howard.  He  was  very  roughly 
dressed  and  his  clothes  were  bloody,  and  the 
woman,  as  she  afterward  confessed,  at  first 
took  him  for  a  desperado,  reeking  with  the 
blood  of  his  victims.  As  soon,  however,  as 
she  found  out  that  he  was  the  "  old  hunter  " 


214 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


whom  her  husband  was  with,  she  longed  to 
speak  to  him,  but  did  not  dare  to  do  so  in  the 
presence  of  the  stranger,  whom  she  had 
noticed  getting  on  and  off  the  cars  every  time 
she  did,  and  had  pretty  well  made  up  her 
mind  as  to  his  identity. 

The  chance  came,  however,  at  last,  and 
Youngblood  found  a  safe  opportunity  to  tell 
her  where  her  husband  was.  The  poor 
woman  begged  him  to  help  them  to  outwit 
the  detective  and  effect  their  escape.  He 
promised  to  do  so,  and,  about  10  o'clock  that 
night,  he  slipped  out  of  town,  went  to  How- 
ard and  reported  what  he  had  seen  and  heard, 
telling  him  to  lie  close  until  the  next  night, 
when  he  would  try  to  get  him  away. 

All  the  next  day  Youngblood  strolled  about 
the  station,  and  spent  considerable  time  in 
the  company  of  the  stranger  from  Fort  Scott. 
He  took  care  to  announce  in  his  presence 
that  he  intended  to  go  on  another  hunt  soon, 
and  told  him  that  if  his  partner  did  not 
return  he  would  be  glad  of  his  (the  detect- 
ive's) company.  The  other  professed  himself 


ENGLISHMEN  ON  A  LARK.  215 

anxious  to  go,  and  the  two  parted  fast  friends. 
But,  alas  for  human  calculations!  When  the 
Fort  Scott  man  got  up  the  next  morning,  he 
found  that  the  woman  and  children  he  had 
followed  so  carefully  from  Missouri  had 
disappeared — no  one  knew  where. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  this  strange  van- 
ishing was  due  to  Youngblood.  As  soon  as 
all  the  village  was  still  in  sleep,  he  had  har- 
nessed up  his  team,  and,  taking  Howard's 
family  with  him,  had  driven  to  the  place 
wThere  the  fugitive  lay  concealed,  and  started 
the  whole  party  to  Colorado,  telling  them 
to  keep  hidden  during  the  day  and  travel 
only  by  night.  He  got  back  to  the  hotel  in 
time  for  breakfast;  and  when  the  detective 
missed  Mrs.  Howard  and  her  children,  he 
evidently  at  once  suspected  the  hunter  of 
knowing  something  about  the  matter,  for  he 
gave  him  a  sharp,  scrutinizing  look,  as  if  he 
thought  that  he  could  tell  how  they  got 
away,  if  he  chose.  He  said  nothing,  how- 
ever; but,  as  good  luck  would  have  it,  some- 
one told  him  that  a  woman  with  children 


216 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


had  boarded  a  train  that  passed  through 
during  the  night;  so  he  took  the  first  train 
he  could  that  went  in  the  same  direction, 
left  on  a  false  scent,  and  Youngblood  never 
saw  him  again. 

Howard  was  afterward  caught,  taken  back 
to  Fort  Scott,  tried,  and  acquitted.  He  is 
now  working  as  a  fireman  on  the  Atchison, 
Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Kailroad. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


A  SUDDEN"  KISE — THE  INTELLIGENT  BEAVER 
— NO  BADGER  FOR  THE  DOGS. 

Howard's  enforced  flight  left  Youngblood 
without  a  hand;  but  he  soon  procured  one,  a 
man  named  Henderson,  who  owned  a  good 
team,  which,  with  Youngblood' s  own,  made 
a  capital  hunting  outfit.  On  their  first  expe- 
dition they  went  to  White  Woman  Creek. 
On  their  way  they  saw  hundreds  of  antelope, 
but  as  this  was  not  the  game  they  were  look- 
ing for,  they  did  not  disturb  them.  As 
they  could  find  no  buffalo,  they  crossed  the 
creek  and  camped  for  the  night,  shooting  an 
antelope  for  supper. 

The  next  day  they  moved  on  to  Beaver 
Creek,  and  again  stopped  for  the  night, 
camping  under  the  bluff,  about  twenty  yards 
from  the  water.  It  was  cool,  clear  weather, 
and  the  creek  was  very  low;  but  when  they 
got  up  in  the  morning,  they  were  astounded 

(217) 


218 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


to  find  themselves  surrounded  by  water. 
This  was  all  the  more  surprising  as  it  had 
not  rained  a  drop  during  the  night.  Strive 
as  they  would,  they  could  not  understand 
the  phenomenon;  but  there  was  no  doubt 
about  the  fact  that  the  water  had  risen  from 
four  inches  to  six  feet,  and  evidently  this  was 
not  the  result  of  any  freshet,  for  the  water 
was  not  in  the  slightest  degree  muddy. 

They  waded  out,  getting  uncomfortably 
wet  in  the  operation,  and,  after  breakfast, 
proceeded  down  the  creek  to  investigate  the 
sudden  rise.  The  cause  must  be  some  stop- 
page below,  Youngblood  thought,  and,  sure 
enough,  they  had  not  gone  far  when  they 
came  to  a  big  beaver  dam,  which  the  beavers 
were  hard  at  work  repairing.  At  once  the 
cause  of  the  remarkable  rise  of  the  creek 
was  explained,  and  the  mystery  was  a  mys- 
tery no  longer.  The  dam  had  recently 
broken  and  allowed  the  water  in  the  creek 
to  run  out,  and  the  beavers  had  filled  up 
the  break  during  the  night,  occasioning  the 
overflow. 


A  SUDDEN  RISE. 


219 


It  may  not  be  out  of  place  here,  and  will 
prove  interesting  to  tlie  reader,  to  give  a  short 
sketch  of  the  habits  of  this  singularly  intelli- 
gent little  animal. 

The  beaver  is  about  three  times  as  large  as 
the  common  raccoon,  with  which  all  are  famil- 
iar— usually  at  least  two  feet  in  length  from 
the  nose  to  the  root  of  the  tail.  The  tail, 
which  the  animals  use  as  a  trowel,  is  about 
ten  inches  in  length  and  an  inch  thick,  broad, 
flat,  and  covered  with  scales.  They  are  very 
aquatic  in  their  mode  of  life,  and  seldom 
wander  far  from  a  lake  or  river.  Their  hind 
feet  are  spread  out  like  those  of  a  goose,  and 
webbed,  which  make  them  peculiarly  good 
swimmers,  and  they  have  the  power  of  stay- 
ing a  remarkably  long  time  under  water. 
Their  teeth  are  heavy  and  pointed,  and  so 
strong  that  they  are  able  to  cut  down  large 
trees  with  them.  Their  houses,  which  are 
the  admiration  of  mankind,  are  cone-shaped, 
built  of  sticks  and  mud,  with  the  entrance 
under  the  water,  and  the  different  lodges  are 
connected  by  passages.    When  the  depth  of 


220 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


water  is  not  sufficient,  the  beavers  build  a 
dam,  near  which  the  house  or  lodge  is  placed. 
These  dams  are  built  of  mud,  sticks,  logs, 
and  even  large  trees — the  latter  cut  down  with 
their  teeth,  at  some  point  above  the  dam,  and 
carried  to  the  proper  place  by  floating  them 
down  the  current.  The  walls  of  the  lodges 
are  very  thick,  and  the  whole  structure  is 
not  only  very  warm,  but  affords  ample  pro- 
tection from  wolves  and  other  beasts  of  prey. 
To  one  who  has  never  seen  a  beaver  town 
and  dam,  the  sight  is  as  wonderful  and 
instructive  an  one  as  anything  that  could 
possibly  be  shown  him. 

Leaving  the  beaver  dam  that  had  been  the 
cause  of  so  much  astonishment  to  them, 
Youngblood  and  his  companion  passed  down 
the  creek  about  twenty  miles,  and  crossed  to 
the  Twin  Lakes,  about  which  they  found 
quantities  of  antelope,  and  decided  to  stop 
right  there  and  kill  a  load.  Henderson 
turned  out  the  horses,  and  Youngblood  got 
down  to  work  with  his  trusty  rifle,  and  soon 
had  twenty-four  carcasses   stretched  out 


A  SUDDEN  EISE. 


221 


before  him.  The  next  morning  he  also 
obtained  a  large  buffalo  which  came  down  to 
water.  This  made  their  load,  both  wagons 
being  filled  to  repletion,  and  they  pulled  in 
to  Sherlock,  where  they  sold  out  for  $71,  one 
third  of  which  went  to  Henderson. 

They  stayed  in  Sherlock  only  one  night 
and  were  off  again,  this  time  going  along  the 
bed  of  the  Pawnee  River,  where  they  felt 
pretty  certain  to  find  buffalo;  but  in  this 
they  were  disappointed,  for  on  their  arrival 
they  found  that  the  Indians  had  been  there 
and  had  chased  them  out  of  the  country  on 
horseback.  To  hunt  them  with  horses 
frightens  the  buffalo  badly,  and  when  once 
stampeded  from  this  cause,  they  do  not  soon 
stop.  Finding,  therefore,  their  hopes  of 
buffalo  vain,  the  partners  proceeded  to  kill 
a  load  of  antelope,  which  they  carried  to 
Pierceville,  the  nearest  station. 

They  then  took  another  shoot,  going  south 
to  the  Arkansas  River.  Youngblood  had 
always  found  buffalo  plenty  in  this  region, 
and  supposed  he  would  do  so  again.  But,  as 


222 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTEK. 


it  turned  out,  lie  was  no  luckier  than  he  had 
been  at  Pawnee  Eiver;  for  they  had  driven 
scarcely  more  than  twenty  miles  south  when 
they  came  to  where  the  prairie  had  been 
recently  burned,  and  for  the  two  succeeding 
days  they  saw  nothing  but  an  arid  waste  of 
blackened  ground.  The  worst  of  all  was 
that  they  had  taken  very  little  "  grub  "  with 
them,  expecting  to  find  plenty  of  game,  but 
all  the  game  had  been  driven  away  by  the 
fire.  They  had  two  dogs  with  them,  which 
soon  began  to  manifest  decided  symptoms 
of  hunger;  but  as  they  had  almost  nothing 
for  themselves,  they  did  not  deem  it  exactly 
prudent  to  divide  with  their  canine  comrades. 
At  last  Youngblood  spied  a  badger  lying 
near  his  hole,  and  shot  him  for  the  dogs,  but 
the  dainty  animals  would  not  touch  it.  He 
thought  they  would  probably  get  hungry 
enough  to  eat  it  before  long,  so  he  threw  it 
into  the  wagon  and  took  it  along;  when  they 
camped  that  night,  he  offered  it  to  them 
again,  but  they  were  not  ready  for  it  yet. 
He  then  dressed  it  and  roasted  it  nicely,  but 


A  SUDDEN  RISE. 


223 


still  they  would  have  nothing  of  it.  He  left 
it  before  them,  however,  and  by  morning  the 
pangs  of  hunger  got  the  best  of  them,  and 
they  devoured  every  atom  of  it. 

About  2  o'clock  the  next  day  the  north 
fork  of  Cimarron  Creek  was  reached,  and 
just  as  they  struck  the  creek  Henderson 
pointed  to  a  hill  about  a  hundred  yards  to 
the  left  of  them,  saying  :  "  There  are  four 
buffalo  heads;  some  hunter  has  been  here  not 
long  ago." 

Youngblood  jumped  upon  the  wagon  to 
get  a  good  look  at  them,  but  in  a  moment  he 
warned  his  companion  to  squat  down,  for 
those  heads  were  still  attached  to  the  buf- 
falo. He  took  his  gun,  and,  coming  as  close 
to  them  as  he  dared,  saw  that  one  was  a  cow 
and  the  other  three  were  young  ones.  He 
concluded,  therefore,  to  kill  the  cow  first,  as 
he  would  then  be  pretty  apt  to  get  them  all; 
and  this  conjecture  proved  correct,  for  the 
old  one  never  got  up  after  the  first  bullet 
struck  her,  and  in  two  minutes  all  four  were 
dead.    It  is  needless  to  state  that  the  little 


224 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


party  fared  sumptuously  that  night,  dogs 
and  all. 

The  next  day  they  drove  ten  miles,  which 
brought  them  out  of  the  burnt  district. 
Youngblood  then  mounted  a  high  hill,  and, 
scanning  the  broad  extent  of  horizon  with  his 
field-glass,  discovered,  about  six  miles  ahead, 
a  large  herd  of  the  game  he  was  in  search  of. 
He  drove  as  close  as  was  possible  with  the 
wagon,  and  then  got  out,  and,  shooting  one 
down,  got  a  u stand"  on  the  herd,  and  soon 
killed  all  that  could  be  hauled  in  both 
wagons. 

As  they  were  driving  into  town,  they  saw 
a  large  herd  close  to  the  road,  and,  as  they 
wished  to  pay  them  a  visit  in  the  near  future, 
when  they  could  take  care  of  some  of  them, 
they  drew  quietly  up  in  the  shade  of  a  clump 
of  trees,  in  order  not  to  frighten  them.  The 
buffalo  soon  moved  out  of  the  road,  and  the 
hunters  drove  rapidly  to  the  station,  where 
they  disposed  of  their  meat  as  quickly  as  pos- 
sible, and,  hiring  a  hand  to  go  with  them, 
started  back  for  the  herd   they  had  left. 


A  SUDDEN  RISE. 


225 


Youngblood  was  pretty  confident  that  they 
would  be  found  in  the  vicinity  of  Bear  Creek, 
as  they  were  heading  in  that  direction,  and 
with  that  expectation  he  drove  up  the  creek, 
keeping  a  sharp  outlook  on  both  sides.  After 
traveling  about  forty  miles,  however,  the 
party  were  overtaken  by  a  severe  snow-storm, 
which  left  about  six  inches  of  snow  on  the 
ground,  and  compelled  them  to  lay  over  for 
two  days  in  the  bed  of  Bear  Creek. 

On  the  morning  of  the  third  day,  as 
Youngblood  was  busily  engaged  in  making  a 
fire,  he  was  startled  by  a  fearful  racket  close 
at  hand.  Kunning  up  a  bank  to  find  out 
what  it  all  meant,  he  saw  a  buffalo  fighting 
desperately  with  four  ravenous  wolves.  The 
wolf,  as  a  rule,  is  quite  unable  to  contend 
with  the  buffalo;  but  a  pack  of  them  will 
often  hang  around  a  herd  to  devour  calves 
which  may  stray,  or  aged  animals  which  have 
become  too  weak  to  keep  up  with  the  rest, 
and  even  these  are  apt  to  deal  death  to  many 
of  their  assailants  before  they  are  forced  to 
yield  to  numbers.    In  this  case,  the  buffalo 

15 


226 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


had  been  hurt  in  some  way  across  the  loins, 
and  could  no  longer  run.  The  wolves  kept 
flying  at  it,  first  from  one  side  and  then  the 
other,  and  tearing  out  great  mouthfuls  at 
each  jump,  in  their  hungry  pertinacity.  But 
they  were  destined  never  to  enjoy  their  feast, 
for  at  the  appearance  of  the  hunter  they 
fled  howling  away,  leaving  him  in  undisputed 
possession  of  the  prize. 

As  the  snow  and  delay  had  ruined  all 
chances  of  finding  the  expected  buffalo, 
Youngblood  turned  south  toward  the  north 
fork  of  Cimarron  Creek,  where  they  ran 
across  a  herd  of  fourteen,  of  which  they  cap- 
tured eleven.  This  made  out  the  load,  and 
they  drove  back  to  the  station  again. 

When  they  arrived  in  Lakin,  they  found 
three  men  there,  from  New  York,  who  had 
never  seen  a  live  buffalo.  They  examined 
the  load  of  meat  very  curiously,  and  finally 
asked  Youngblood  what  he  would  charge  to 
let  them  go  with  him  the  next  time  he  went 
out  hunting.  They  said  they  merely  wanted 
to  go  along  to  see  the  sights,  and  not  to  take 


A  SUDDEN  RISE. 


227 


any  active  part  in  the  shooting.  Youngblood 
told  them  that  he  would  let  them  go  for  a 
dollar  apiece  a  day— terms  which  they  were 
only  too  glad  to  accept.  So,  as  soon  as  every- 
thing conld  be  got  in  readiness,  they  started 
from  Lakin  and  went  south  of  the  Arkansas 
River  to  the  head-waters  of  North  Fork 
Creek,  about  thirty  miles  back.  They  camped 
for  the  night  on  the  creek.  Snow  fell  during 
the  night  to  the  depth  of  about  four  inches, 
so  they  were  obliged  to  wait  in  the  morning 
until  it  had  thawed  somewhat.  It  was  10 
o'clock  before  they  harnessed  up;  they  drove 
about  fifteen  miles  up  the  creek,  when 
Youngblood  began  to  think  it  was  about 
time  to  strike  some  buffalo;  so  he  mounted 
to  quite  a  lofty  hill,  where  he  could  get  a 
good  view  for  miles,  and  eagerly  swept  the 
landscape  with  his  glass.  There  were  im- 
mense numbers  of  horses  and  cattle  to  be 
seen  in  all  directions,  and,  after  gazing  for 
some  time,  he  at  last  made  out  a  herd  of 
buffalo  about  five  miles  away. 
When  he  returned  to  the  wagon  and 


228 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


informed  Ms  companions  of  his  discovery, 
their  joy  knew  no  bounds,  and  they  were  all 
anxiety  to  be  off  at  once,  a  desire  that 
Youngblood  himself  was  only  too  glad  to 
gratify.  They  soon  got  on  lower  ground,  and 
for  some  time  were  out  of  sight  of  the  herd; 
but  they  kept  steadily  on  their  course,  and 
when  they  finally  came  once  more  in  sight 
of  the  buffalo,  they  were  not  more  than  half 
a  mile  away. 

It  was  Youngblood' s  usual  custom  to  crawl 
on  his  hands  and  knees  through  the  grass 
until  he  was  as  near  to  a  herd  as  he  wished; 
but  this  time  the  ground  was  so  cold  and 
muddy  that  he  did  not  feel  like  crawling, 
but  just  ran  rapidly  toward  his  intended 
game  until  they  showed  signs  of  alarm,  and 
then  he  at  once  began  shooting.  He  had  to 
fire  at  very  long  range;  but,  after  several 
shots,  he  managed  to  wound  one  of  the  ani- 
mals in  the  shoulder.  The  stricken  beast 
was  soon  unable  to  keep  up  with  the  herd, 
and  dropped  behind.  The  hunter  waited 
until  the  wagon  came  up,  and  then  he  set  the 


A  SUDDEN  EISE. 


229 


dogs  on  the  crippled  buffalo.  The  latter 
made  its  way  the  best  it  could  after  the  herd, 
with  the  dogs  at  its  heels  worrying  it,  until 
it  came  to  a  rise  in  the  ground,  when  the  rest 
of  the  herd,  seeing  the  fight,  turned,  and, 
dashing  back,  began  to  try  to  kill  the  dogs, 
who,  although  " laying  at  them"  all  the 
time,  managed  to  keep  out  of  the  way. 

As  the  fight  progressed,  assailants  and 
assailed  gradually  moved  toward  the  place 
where  Youngblood  and  his  companions  stood 
watching  the  sport.  The  New  Yorkers,  when 
they  observed  this  approach,  began  to  grow 
alarmed;  but  Youngblood  assured  them  that 
there  was  no  danger,  and  if  they  would 
come  with  him  he  would  show  them  how 
to  kill  buffalo.  Nothing  could  induce  them, 
however,  to  move  a  step  closer  to  the 
dreaded  beasts;  and,  finding  it  was  useless 
to  waste  further  words  upon  them,  the 
hunter  advanced  to  within  a  hundred  and 
fifty  yards  of  the  buffalo,  and  began  firing, 
upon  them.  The  herd  were  entirely  absorbed 
with  the  dogs,  and  at  every  shot  one  of  them 


230 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


dropped.  Finally,  there  was  but  one  left. 
The  solitary  animal  suddenly  became  con- 
scious of  his  loneliness,  and,  in  search  of 
company,  galloped  off  straight  toward  the 
New  Yorkers.  They,  poor  fellows,  thought 
sure  that  their  last  moment  was  come,  and, 
with  shrieks  of  alarm,  began  darting  aim- 
lessly hither  and  thither.  Perhaps  this 
frightened  the  monarch  of  the  prairies,  for  he 
stopped  to  see  what  sort  of  strange  animals 
these  were.  His  pause  was  fatal  to  him,  for 
in  another  moment  he  dropped  with  a  bullet, 
sent  by  Youngblood's  trusty  "  old  poison- 
slinger,"  through  his  heart.  The  New  York- 
ers were  immensely  relieved  when  they  saw 
their  enemy  fall,  and  probably  believe  to 
this  day  that  Youngblood  saved  their  lives, 
although  there  was  really  very  little  danger. 

It  wanted  now  only  an  hour  to  sunset,  and 
there  were  thirteen  buffalo  to  dress  before 
bed-time.  Besides  the  New  Yorkers,  Young- 
blood  had  only  one  person  with  him,  a  man 
named  Lee  Howard — a  good  hand,  fortu- 
nately, who  had  made  several  trips  with  our 


A  SUDDEN  RISE. 


231 


hero,  and  knew  his  business.  The  New 
Yorkers  offered  to  help,  and  did  the  best 
they  could;  but  they  were  rather  a  hindrance 
than  a  help,  for  they  were  bankers'  clerks 
and  unfledged  lawyers,  who  had  never  seen  a 
buffalo.  With  the  exception  of  three,  the 
carcasses  lay  within  a  radius  of  thirty  feet; 
Youngblood  built  a  fire  in  the  center,  and 
by  midnight  the  meat  was  dressed  and  safely 
packed  away. 

The  party  were  too  excited  for  sleep,  so 
they  talked  the  remainder  of  the  night.  The 
next  morning,  they  saw  a  herd  of  about 
three  hundred.  Youngblood,  the  indefatiga- 
ble, pitched  in  and  got  eight.  This  made 
all  they  could  haul,  and  they  started  back  to 
Lakin.  When  they  reached  the  hotel,  the 
landlord  asked  Youngblood  why  he  had  not 
brought  some  antelope.  The  latter  replied 
that  he  was  after  buffalo  and  had  not  thought 
anything  about  antelope,  but  promised  to 
go  out  the  next  day  and  see  what  he  could 
do  to  satisfy  the  desires  of  mine  host. 

True  to  his  promise,  in  the  morning  he 


232 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


mounted  his  old  Indian  pony,  and,  finding  a 
nice  herd  of  the  graceful  creatures  not  far 
from  the  station,  killed  three  of  them.  He 
had  with  him  a  rope  about  twenty  feet  long 
that  he  was  in  the  habit  of  using  to  picket 
his  horse,  and  with  this  he  tied  his  pony  to 
the  neck  of  one  of  the  antelope  that  he 
supposed  was  breathing  its  last,  and  pro- 
ceeded on  foot  after  the  herd.  He  started 
on  their  trail,  overtook  them,  and  killed  six; 
but  when  he  returned,  his  pony  was  nowhere 
to  be  seen,  and  the  antelope  hitching-post  was 
also  missing.  Starting  in  search  of  them,  he 
found,  to  his  surprise  and  amusement,  the 
antelope  leading  the  horse  by  the  picket 
rope.  He  soon  gave  the  animal  its  coup  de 
grace,  and,  gathering  up  his  spoils,  he  tied 
their  heads  together,  two  and  two,  and, 
throwing  them  across  the  horse,  proceeded 
to  the  station  driving  his  horse  before  him. 

The  little  cavalcade  must  have  presented 
an  odd  appearance  as  it  entered  Lakin;  but, 
be  this  as  it  may,  our  friend  gave  the  good 
towns-people  a  fine  supply  of  antelope,  and 
received  excellent  pay  for  them  as  well. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


ALMOST  STARVED — EATING  PRAIRIE-DOGS — 
A  GREEN  HUNTER'S  RELIC — SQUEAMISH 
"TENDERFEET." 

A  hunter's  life  is  not  always  one  of  good 
luck,  with  plenty  of  game  and  big  results, 
both  as  to  meat  and  prices.  On  one  occasion 
Youngblood  started  out  to  shoot  over  a  range 
where  usually  there  was  game  in  abundance; 
but  when  he  arrived  at  his  destination,  he 
found  that  the  lakes  had  dried  up,  and  the 
game  had  been  forced  to  go  elsewhere  in 
search  of  water.  He  drove  about  for  three 
days  without  firing  a  shot;  for  two  of  these 
days  he  was  compelled  to  go  entirely  with- 
out food,  and  the  pangs  of  hunger  soon 
became  excruciating.  At  last  he  struck  a 
dog  town,  and  by  that  time  he  was  so  fam- 
ished that  he  could  have  chewed  a  pine 
board.  He  had  never  tasted  a  prairie-dog, 
and  had  not  considered  the  animal  as  a  viand 

(233) 


234 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


most  worthy  to  tempt  the  appetite  of  an 
epicure;  but  this  was  n©  time  to  be  dainty, 
so  he  turned  his  horses  out,  shot  one  of  the 
little  varmints,  fried  him  nicely,  and  ate  him. 
The  food  was  so  grateful  to  his  empty 
stomach  that  he  tried  another,  then  another, 
and  still  another,  until  he  had  eaten  six.  It 
would  be  impossible  for  a  man  ordinarily  to 
eat  more  than  one;  but  our  hunter  was  so 
hungry,  and  had  absolutely  nothing  else  in 
the  way  of  food,  that  he  easily  got  away  with 
the  half-dozen,  and  relished  them,  too. 

After  dinner  he  hitched  up,  and,  after  driv- 
ing about  forty  miles,  he  fell  in  with  a  man 
named  Edward  Day,  who  had  just  killed  a 
buffalo  and  had  the  humps  with  him. 
Youngblood  told  him  that  he  was  as  hungry 
as  a  wolf,  and  wanted  something  to  eat.  Day 
was  very  hospitable,  stopped,  built  a  fire, 
and  soon  had  an  appetizing  mess  ready. 

Youngblood  asked  his  new  friend  where 
-  the  game  had  gone  to,  and  he  replied  that  he 
had  seen  a  large  herd  only  about  five  miles 
from  where  they  were  then  resting.  This 


ALMOST  STARVED. 


235 


news,  with  the  buffalo  humps,  considerably 
revived  the  jaded  spirits  of  our  hero,  and  he 
at  once  started  for  the  place  indicated,  and 
killed  six  of  the  animals. 

The  next  morning  three  men  with  a  wagon 
appeared  at  his  improvised  camp.  They  had 
been  out  to  kill  buffalo,  but  had  had  no  suc- 
cess, and  were  returning  with  heavy  hearts. 
After  talking  some  time,  they  proposed  to 
Youngblood  to  give  him  $5  if  he  would  show 
them  how  to  kill  buffalo.  The  hunter  had  no 
objection  to  making  money  so  easily,  and  pro- 
ceeded at  once  to  give  them  the  lesson.  The 
buffalo  were  very  thick  in  that  locality,  and 
there  was  no  difficulty  in  finding  all  they 
wanted.  But  the  man  who  had  made  the 
offer  of  $5  for  the  lesson  was  so  much  afraid 
of  the  shaggy  brutes  that  he  could  scarcely 
be  induced  to  go  near  enough  to  get  his 
money's  worth.  Youngblood,  however,  by 
dint  of  ridicule  and  persuasion,  got  him  as 
close  as  he  could,  and  showed  him  which  one 
to  fire  at,  but  his  shot  flew  wide  of  the  mark. 
His  teacher  saw  that  he  had  a  hard  task 


236 


A  MIGHTY  HUXTER. 


before  him,  and  that  he  must  get  him  nearer, 
so  he  himself  shot  and  crippled  one  animal, 
and  then  started  his  pupil  after  it.  The 
wounded  buffalo  moved  off  slowly,  and  the 
embryo  hunter  fired  some  twenty  shots  at  it 
without  the  slightest  visible  effect.  Finally, 
Youngblood  brought  him  up  within  fifty 
yards,  but  by  this  time  the  poor  fellow  was 
so  nervous  that  he  was  shaking  as  if  he  had 
an  ague  fit,  and  could  not  have  hit  a  barn- 
door at  five  paces.  The  buffalo,  seeing  that 
it  was  about  to  be  overtaken,  turned  and 
showed  fight,  and  Youngblood  was  obliged 
to  shoot  it  himself.  He  then  told  his  com- 
panion to  finish  it  quickly  before  it  was 
dead,  and  the  man  ran  up,  and,  after  sending 
a  ball  into  the  buffalo's  ham,  turned  and 
handed  his  instructor  the  $5.  He  was  pro- 
fuse in  his  thanks,  and  asked  Youngblood  to 
skin  the  head,  declaring  that  he  was  going 
to  have  it  stuffed,  and  when  he  was  an  old 
man  he  would  exhibit  it  to  his  grandchildren 
as  a  relic  of  his  exploits  as  a  mighty  hunter 
of  the  plains. 


ALMOST  STARVED. 


237 


They  then  camped  for  the  night,  but  when 
it  came  to  building  a  fire  with  buffalo-  chips, 
the  strangers  were  too  extremely  nice  to 
touch  them,  and  Youngblood  was  obliged  to 
gather  all  the  fuel  himself.  It  is  no  un- 
common thing  to  find  men  who,  on  their 
first  visit  to  the  plains,  are  too  dainty  even 
to  eat  anything  which  has  been  cooked  with 
this  kind  of  fuel,  but  they  soon  conquer  their 
squeamishness,  take  things  as  they  find  them, 
and  "  do  in  Rome  as  the  Romans  do." 

About  the  only  man  that  Youngblood  ever 
knew  to  take  kindly  to  buffalo-chips  at  the 
very  first  dash  was  an  old  friend  of  his — he 
sometimes  rolls  pills  in  Kansas — who  had 
come  out  to  take  a  look  at  the  wild  and 
woolly  West,  and  while  there  he  called  on 
his  old  acquaintance.  They  went  out  together 
after  antelope,  and,  stopping  at  the  head  of 
a  small  branch,  found  a  pool  of  water  at 
which,  from  the  marks  about  it,  it  was  evi- 
dent that  antelope  had  been  drinking.  They 
concluded  to  stop  there  and  wait  for  the 
game  to  return;  so  they  unhitched  the  horse, 


238 


A  MIGHTY  HUjSTTEK. 


and  drew  the  buggy  down  into  a  draw  where 
it  would  be  out  of  sight  of  the  antelope,  and 
then  sat  down  to  take  a  lunch.  While  they 
were  eating,  an  antelope  came  in  sight,  within 
twenty  paces  of  where  they  sat.  Youngblood 
seized  his  gun,  which  happened  to  be  within 
reach,  and  at  the  first  shot  brought  down  the 
animal.  In  a  few  moments  two  more  came 
to  the  place  where  the  dead  one  was  lying, 
and  he  bagged  both  of  them.  He  then  told 
his  friend  to  build  a  fire  while  he  skinned 
the  antelope,  and  they  would  have  some 
fresh  meat. 

"All  right,"  was  the  answer;  " where  can 
I  find  some  wood? " 

Youngblood  pointed  to  a  pile  of  "  chips," 
and  told  him  there  was  plenty  of  fuel. 

To  his  surprise,  and  totally  contrary  to  his 
expectations,  the  man  jumped  right  info  the 
midst  of  them,  and,  with  no  show  of  repug- 
nance, began  to  rake  them  up  with  his  hands, 
and  a  few  minutes  after  was  contentedly 
gnawing  away  at  a  chunk  of  bread  in  one 
hand  and  a  lump  of  meat  in  the  other. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

SOUTH   OF  THE  AKKA1STSAS   KIVEB — TWO  AT 
ONE  SHOT — WOLVES. 

Not  long  after  the  circumstances  mentioned 
in  the  last  chapter,  Youngblood,  in  company 
with  a  friend,  went  south  of  the  Arkansas 
River  until  they  came  to  the  North  Fork,  a 
distance  of  about  thirty  miles,  and  then 
traveled  up  this  stream  for  another  thirty 
miles,  when  they  went  south  again  to  the 
Point  of  Rock,  on  the  South  Fork  of  Cimar- 
ron Creek.  Here  they  came  upon  a  large 
herd  of  buffalo,  which  Youngblood  sent  his 
friend  to  tackle,  while  he  remained  with  the 
team.  The  buffalo  tore  down  into  a  hollow, 
and,  when  they  were  fired  upon,  dashed 
straight  toward  the  place  where  the  wagon 
was.  The  team  was  a  very  wild  one,  and 
apt  to  run  away  at  the  slightest  provocation, 
so  Youngblood  did  not  want  to  shoot;  but 
as  the  buffalo  whirled  by  at  very  close  range, 


240 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


his  hunting  instincts  got  the  better  of  him, 
and  he  caught  up  his  gun  and  blazed  away. 
In  his  haste  he  forgot  to  draw  the  ramrod, 
which  he  had  inserted  in  the  gun,  wrapped 
in  oil  tow,  to  prevent  its  rusting,  and  he  shot 
stick  and  all,  stringing  two  of  the  buffalo 
through  the  loins.  The  explosion  startled 
the  horses  so  that  they  were  about  to  become 
unmanageable,  and  he  was  forced  to  rest 
content  with  this  single  shot,  and  give  his 
whole  attention  to  the  team.  When  his 
friend  came  up  he  was  surprised  to  see  two 
dead  buffalo,  as  he  had  heard  only  one  shot, 
and  the  explanation  simply  increased  his 
amazement. 

They  soon  got  the  meat  dressed  and  loaded, 
and  began  to  retrace  their  way.  After  driv- 
ing fifteen  miles,  they  camped  near  a  big 
spring  for  the  night.  About  9  o'clock  they 
were  startled  from  sleep  by  the  howling 
of  wolves,  who,  attracted  by  the  smell  of 
fresh  meat,  were  prowling  about  the  camp. 
There  was  a  dog  with  them  who  bore  no  good- 
will to  the  beasts,  and  they  finally  came  so 


SOUTH  OF  THE  ARKANSAS  RIVER.  241 

near  that  they  and  the  dog  kept  np  a  con- 
tinual racket.  The  dog  would  rush  out  at 
the  wolves  and  chase  them  a  short  distance, 
when  they  would  turn  and  drive  him  back, 
and  then  the  whole  performance  would  be 
gone  over  again.  This  continued,  with  brief 
intervals,  throughout  the  whole  night,  and 
most  effectually  prevented  Youngblood  and 
his  partner  from  obtaining  a  wink  of  sleep. 
The  wolves  were  nearly  starved,  and  seemed 
determined  at  all  hazards  to  obtain  some- 
thing to  eat. 

At  one  time  during  the  night  it  was 
really  exciting  and  decidedly  unpleasant 
for  the  two  men.  The  wolves  had  chased 
the  dog  right  up  to  where  they  were  lying, 
when  one  of  them  attacked  him.  For  some 
moments  they  fought  viciously  around,  and 
even  upon,  the  recumbent  hunters,  who  had 
pulled  the  buffalo-robes  well  over  them  to 
protect  them  from  injury,  but  who  were  any- 
thing but  comfortable  until  the  fight  was 
over,  and  the  dog  had  driven  the  wolf  away. 
In  the  morning  they  rose,  feeling  much  more 

16 


242 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


wearied  than  when  they  laid  down.  The 
wolves  were  still  all  around  them,  and  by 
this  time  had  grown  quite  friendly  with  the 
dog,  who  was  playing  and  frolicking  with 
them.  There  was  very  little  profit  to  be 
made  by  killing  them,  as  wolf-skins  brought 
little  or  nothing  in  the  market;  but  a  few 
well-directed  shots  scattered  them,  and 
allowed  the  two  friends,  worn  and  weary,  to 
proceed  to  their  destination. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


AN  EDITOR  TRIES  IT — PLENTY  OP  GAME — A 
BIG  HAUL — TWO  DOCTORS  FROM  CHICAGO 
— DUCK-SHOOTING — CURLEW — THE  BUSI- 
NESS OVERDONE. 

Our  hero's  next  hunting  expedition  was 
undertaken  in  company  with  an  editor  who 
was  anxious  to  see  something  of  the  big 
game.  The  second  night  out  they  camped 
on  Carter  Draw,  on  the  banks  of  a  large  lake. 
They  had  just  begun  their  preparations  for 
breakfast,  when  they  discovered  that  the 
antelope  in  large  numbers  were  coming  to 
the  lake  for  water,  and  Youngblood  told  the 
editor  that  if  he  would  get  breakfast,  he,  on 
his  side,  would  try  to  kill  some  of  the 
animals.  He  was  very  successful,  returning, 
after  an  hour' s  hunt,  with  ten  of  them.  After 
breakfast  they  gathered  up  the  game,  har- 
nessed up,  and  drove  to  Syracuse  Station, 
about  thirty  miles  distant,  on  the  Atchison, 

(243) 


244 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Railroad.  Here  they 
shipped  the  antelope  to  Fisher,  the  hotel 
proprietor  at  Lakin. 

From  Syracuse  they  went  about  forty 
miles  north,  to  a  point  near  White  Woman 
Creek,  where  they  ran  upon  a  herd  of 
buffalo;  but  as  it  was  sundown  when  they 
first  saw  them,  Youngblood  considered  that 
it  would  be  best  to  wait  until  morning  before 
disturbing  them.  The  herd  was  an  enor- 
mous one,  closely  covering  fully  half  a  mile 
square,  and  the  hunter  and  the  editor  retired 
to  bed,  full  of  joyous  anticipations  of  the  big 
load  they  would  get  in  the  morning;  but, 
alack  and  alas!  when  the  sun  rose  there  was 
not  a  buffalo  to  be  seen,  high  or  low.  The 
editor  was  loud  in  his  expressions  of  disap- 
pointment; but  the  trail  proved  to  be  an  easy 
one  to  follow,  and,  after  fifteen  miles  travel, 
the  herd  was  found  lying  down.  Youngblood 
killed  four  of  them,  and  the  editor  was  satis- 
fied. 

They  then  drove  to  what  is  called  the 
State  Line  Trail,  and  the  hunter  concluded 


AN  EDITOR  TRIES  IT. 


245 


to  finish  his  load  with  antelope.  When  he 
had  killed  seven,  a  man  with  a  team  came 
along,  and  he  hired  him  to  take  his  load  in  to 
Sargeant  Station,  and  thence  ship  it  to  Lakin. 

With  both  wagon  and  hearts  lightened,  the 
partners  traveled  east  a  few  miles,  and  halted 
on  a  small  lake,  a  watering-place  for  both 
antelope  and  buffalo.  During  the  night 
several  of  the  former  came  down  to  the 
shore,  and  the  editor  shot  one  of  them — his 
first,  and,  in  all  probability,  his  last,  ante- 
lope. About  10  o'clock,  the  horses,  which 
were  picketed  a  short  distance  away,  began 
to  snort  and  exhibit  evident  signs  of  fright. 
Youngblood  was  on  his  feet  in  the  twinkling 
of  an  eye,  certain  that  the  Indians  were  upon 
them;  but  soon  saw,  to  his  relief,  that  the 
cause  of  the  horses'  agitation  was  a  herd  of 
buffalo,  only  about  fifty  yards  away,  which 
had  come  down  for  water.  Several  of  them 
were  within  a  few  feet  of  the  camp,  and 
they  surrounded  the  wagon  and  so  terrified 
one  of  the  horses  that  he  broke  loose.  It 
would  have  been  an  easy  matter  to  have 


246  A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


killed  several  of  them,  but  Youngblood  did 
not  dare  to  shoot  for  fear  of  frightening  the 
horse  still  more  and  making  him  leave 
entirely;  so  all  he  could  do  was  to  stand  and 
gaze  at  them  until  they  had  passed  and  he 
could  secure  the  horse  again.  His  patience 
was  rewarded,  however;  for  a  few  minutes 
after  he  had  the  horse  safely  picketed,  a 
single  buffalo  came  down  to  drink,  and  he 
picked  him  off  without  the  slightest  diffi- 
culty. The  two  men  then  put  on  their  clothes, 
dressed  the  buffalo,  and  sat  round  the  camp- 
fire  for  the  rest  of  the  night.  In  the  morn- 
ing they  drove  five  miles,  and  got  six  more 
buffalo,  which  finished  the  load.  When 
these  were  dressed  it  was  late  in  the  after- 
noon, but  as  there  was  a  moon  that  night, 
Youngblood  proposed  to  his  partner  to  drive 
into  the  station  without  further  delay. 
Shortly  after  they  started,  however,  the 
sky  clouded  over  and  it  grew  very  dark,  so 
that  Youngblood  lost  his  bearings,  and  de- 
cided that  it  would  be  safer  to  proceed  no 
further. 


AJST  EDITOR  TRIES  IT. 


247 


When  they  went  to  picket  their  horses, 
however,  they  found,  to  their  dismay,  that 
they  had  left  their  picket-pins  behind  them 
in  the  place  where  they  had  camped  the  night 
before.  There  was  only  one  thing  to  be  done, 
and  the  two  weary  men  were  compelled  to 
take  turns  in  holding  the  horses  until  day- 
light showed  them  their  whereabouts,  Then 
they  drove  in  to  Aubery  Station,  sold  what 
they  could,  and  returned  to  Lakin.  The  pro- 
ceeds of  this  hunt  were  seventeen  antelope 
and  eleven  buffalo — not  a  bad  showing,  tak- 
ing all  the  circumstances  into  consideration. 
The  editor  was  highly  delighted  with  his 
share  in  the  expedition,  and  published  an 
account  of  the  trip  in  his  paper. 

At  Lakin  Youngblood  found  two  sports- 
men from  Connecticut  awaiting  his  return. 
They  wanted  to  engage  him  simply  as  guide, 
as  they  desired  to  do  all  the  shooting  them- 
selves. They  possessed  an  armory  of  six 
guns — two  breech-loading  shotguns,  two 
breech-loading  rifles,  and  two  eighteen-inch 
rifles.  They  agreed  to  pay  the  guide  $3  a  day 


248 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


from  start  to  finish;  and  as  soon  as  Young- 
blood  was  sufficiently  rested,  the  party  set 
forth  and  went  about  twenty  miles  south  of 
the  Arkansas  River. 

The  particular  pet  of  these  sportsmen 
seemed  to  be  the  shotgun,  and  they  wanted 
to  go  where  there  was  an  abundance  of  fowl 
to  be  had.  It  was  something  novel  to  the 
hunter  of  big  game  to  see  men  who  wished 
to  go  after  ducks  and  snipes  when  there  was 
plenty  of  buffalo  and  antelope  to  be  had;  but 
it  was  no  affair  of  his — they  were  paying 
him;  fowls  they  wanted,  and  fowls  he  found 
for  them. 

He  conducted  them,  therefore,  to  a  large 
lake  which  was  literally  alive  with  ducks 
and  curlew.  The  curlew  is  about  the  size  of 
the  guinea-hen,  and  is  most  excellent  eating, 
the  fiesh  being  delicate  and  finely  flavored. 
There  was  also  a  kind  of  snipe  about  the  size 
of  a  quail,  and  by  no  means  to  be  despised 
by  the  epicure.  With  the  innumerable 
quantities  of  duck,  snipe,  and  curlew,  the 
Connecticut  men  had  the  very  finest  sort  of 


A~N  EDITOR  TRIES  IT. 


249 


sport  of  that  particular  kind  that  their  souls 
delighted  in.  They  seemed  specially  inter- 
ested in  the  curlew,  and  regarded  them  as  a 
great  curiosity,  with  their  long,  slender  legs, 
adapted  for  wading,  and  their  curved  beaks, 
about  seven  inches  in  length.  These  men 
were  capital  shots  at  small  game.  They 
would  not  shoot  at  a  bird  except  when  on 
the  wing,  and  they  never  fired  on  a  bunch  of 
birds,  but  would  make  them  fly  up  in  the 
air,  and  then,  selecting  one,  bring  it  down. 

They  kept  up  their  sport  for  several  days, 
until  one  of  them,  in  firing  at  a  duck  on  the 
wing,  happened  to  shoot  his  comrade,  who 
got  within  his  range.  Fortunately,  the  shot 
they  were  using  was  small  bird-shot,  so 
it  did  not  seriously  injure  the  man;  but  the 
accident  put  an  end  to  the  hunting,  and  sent 
the  party  back  to  Lakin. 

Here  Youngblood  again  found  people  wait- 
ing for  him  to  pilot  them  out  on  a  hunt. 
This  time  it  was  two  doctors  from  Chicago, 
and  as  there  was  no  bickering  about  terms, 
and  our  hunter  felt  fresh  and  entirely  "fit," 


250 


A  MIGHTY  HUOTEK. 


they  started  the  next  day.  After  traveling 
about  twenty  miles,  they  came  to  a  lake 
where  they  stopped  for  the  night.  Here  there 
were  plenty  of  antelope,  and  they  killed 

seven. 

The  doctors  were  provided  with  shotguns, 
and  they  kept  blazing  away  at  everything 
they  saw.  The  wolves  were  decidedly  obstrep- 
erous, and  must  have  been  very  hungry,  for 
they  came  prowling  and  howling  very  close 
to  the  camp,  and  the  doctors  killed  several 
with  their  guns  during  the  night. 

They  were  well  pleased  with  their  sport; 
but,  unlike  the  Connecticut  men,  they 
longed  for  the  biggest  of  all  game — a  longing 
not  uncharacteristic  of  the  average  Chicago 
man.  So,  in  compliance  with  their  desires, 
Youngblood  harnessed  up,  the  next  morning, 
and  they  started  out  in  search  of  buffalo. 
But,  unfortunately,  just  at  this  time  it 
seemed  as  if  the  whole  world  had  gone 
mad  on  the  subject  of  buffalo  and  antelope 
shooting.  Some  days  one  could  see  as  many 
as  fifty  wagons  going  in  all  directions  for 


A1ST  EDITOR  TRIES  IT. 


251 


meat;  but  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the 
would-be  hunters  would  not  have  had  the 
slightest  idea  what  to  do  if  they  had  hap- 
pened, through  good  or  evil  fortune,  to  stum- 
ble upon  a  herd. 

The  fellows  were  around  armed  with  any- 
thing they  could  lay  their  hands  on — knives, 
pistols,  axes,  shotguns,  etc.  They  would 
ask  Youngblood  in  the  most  naive  way  if 
the  buffalo  would  ever  fight,  and  some  of 
them  seemed  to  imagine  that  they  had  noth- 
ing in  the  world  to  do  except  to  amble 
calmly  up  to  the  side  of  one  and  put  an  end 
to  its  existence  with  pistol  or  knife,  at  their 
leisure.  If  they  found  a  herd  they  would 
rush  on,  helter-skelter,  as  if  they  expected  the 
animals  to  stand  still  to  be  caught  by  their 
tails  and  have  their  throats  cut. 

In  fact,  the  crazy  rush  and  racket  of  these 
greenhorns  frightened  the  buffalo  and  ante- 
lope quite  out  of  that  portion  of  the  country, 
and  caused  them  to  seek  a  refuge  from  the 
.  din  and  noise  further  west,  whence  they  did 
not  return  for  over  six  months,  frightened 
out  of  their  senses  as  they  were. 


252  A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 

Most  of  these  raw  hunters  were  men  who 
had  been  gulled  by  land  agents  into  coming 
West,  the  hope  held  out  to  them  being  cheap 
lands,  a  hope  destined  never  to  be  realized. 

At  all  events,  they  had  effectually  driven 
away  the  buffalo,  and  Youngblood  had  to 
take  his  Chicago  doctors  back  with  their 
longings  for  big  game  unrealized. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

KANSAS  AS  A  HUNTING  GROUND — PKAIEIE 
ON  FIRE — BUFFALO  STAMPEDE — SNOW- 
BOUND AND  NEARLY  STARVED — HUNTING 
AND  BREAKING-IN  WILD  HORSES — A  FAIR 
EXCHANGE. 

We  shall  devote  this  chapter  to  three 
hunts  which  our  hero  was  concerned  in  in 
the  seventies,  and  which  possess  certain 
points  of  interest;  but  before  relating  them 
it  may  be  well  to  give  here  a  brief  description 
of  Western  Kansas  in  general,  and  its  rivers 
and  river  valleys  in  particular. 

Beginning  at  the  northwest  corner  of  the 
State  and  coming  south,  the  first  stream  is 
the  Republican  River,  which  has  its  source 
in  Colorado,  near  the  foot  of  the  mountains, 
is  fed  by  springs,  and  when  it  runs  into  Kan- 
sas is  about  180  feet  wide.  The  Republican 
River  has  several  southern  tributaries,  many 
of  which  are  broad  streams  and  skirted  with 
some  timber,  though  not  enough  to  make 

(253) 


254 


A  MIGHTY  HIWTEK. 


them  good  places  for  the  location  of  saw- 
mills. The  next  river  of  note,  as  you  go 
south,  is  the  Solomon  River,  which  in  the 
extreme  western  portion  of  the  State  is  shal- 
low and  narrow;  but,  further  on,  it  receives 
the  waters  of  many  large  springs,  and 
becomes  quite  a  stream.  In  places  there  is 
considerable  timber  upon  its  banks,  and  all 
through  this  valley  there  are  many  capital 
sites  for  a  ranch.  South  of  Solomon  River 
is  Goose  Creek,  fed  by  springs,  and  with 
some  timber;  in  many  places  there  is  good 
meadow  land.  The  next  stream  south  is 
South  Smoky  River,  broad  and  deep,  with 
more  or  less  wooded  banks,  making  an 
excellent  place  for  ranches;  but  most  of  the 
land  is  already  taken  up. 

South  of  the  Arkansas  River,  the  country 
is  well  wooded  and  watered,  and  there  are 
many  valleys  suitable  for  ranchers  to  settle 
in.  All  the  valley  of  the  Arkansas  River, 
with  its  abundant  streams  and  good  grazing, 
is  the  best  buffalo  region  on  the  face  of  the 
globe. 


KANSAS  AS  A  HUNTING  GKOUND.  255 


Although  Youngblood's  buffalo-hunting 
has  by  no  means  been  confined  exclusively 
to  Kansas,  as  he  has  frequently  gone  into 
Nebraska,  Colorado,  New  Mexico,  Indian 
Territory,  and  Texas,  there  is  hardly  a  square 
mile  of  Western  Kansas  and  its  contiguous 
territory  that  he  has  not  explored.  There  is 
not  a  creek  that  he  can  not  describe;  not  a 
bit  of  timber  that  he  has  not  seen,  nor  a 
range  of  hills  with  which  he  is  not  familiar; 
in  fact,  he  is  probably  more  intimately 
acquainted  with  that  country  than  any  other 
living  man. 

But  as  to  the  hunts  that  we  spoke  of  at 
the  beginning  of  the  chapter.  The  first  one 
was  undertaken  with  a  man  named  Edward 
Riley,  and  the  point  of  departure  was  Wal- 
lace Station,  on  the  Kansas  Pacific  Railroad. 
On  the  second  day  out  a  large  herd  was 
found;  they  were  coming  directly  toward 
the  hunters,  and,  as  the  prairie  was  on  fire, 
they  were  in  a  general  stampede.  Young- 
blood  left  Riley  with  the  team,  and  killed 
five  in  a  very  short  space  of  time;  but  it  was 


256  A  MIGHTY  HUNTEK. 

not  long  before  the  fire  was  right  upon  them, 
at  which  Riley  became  so  frightened  that  he 
utterly  lost  his  head,  and  while  Young- 
blood's  attention  was  directed  toward  some- 
thing else,  he  turned  the  team  and  drove  off 
at  a  gallop,  thinking  only  of  making  his  own 
escape,  and  leaving  his  companion  alone  to 
manage  the  best  way  he  could.  After  he 
had  gone  a  short  distance,  however,  he 
recovered  his  senses,  and  turned  to  come 
back;  but  by  this  time  the  smoke  was  so 
dense  that  he  could  see  nothing  of  Young- 
blood.  The  latter  went  on,  meanwhile,  and 
dressed  the  buffalo  he  had  killed.  There 
was  really  no  danger  from  the  fire  where  he 
was,  as  they  had  taken  the  precaution  to 
clear  a  large  space.  After  his  work  was  done 
he  waited  patiently  until  dark;  but  his  run- 
away partner  not  appearing,  he  began  to 
cast  about  to  see  how  he  was  going  to  keep 
from  freezing.  The  weather  was  growing 
very  cold,  and  he  was  in  his  shirt-sleeves, 
for  he  had,  unluckily,  left  his  coat  in  the 
wagon  when  he  started  after  the  buffalo, 


KANSAS  AS  A  HUNTING  GROUND.  257 


and,  of  course,  Riley  had  driven  off  with  it. 
What  to  do  our  shivering  hunter  scarcely 
knew;  but  he  finally  took  the  hides  of  two 
of  the  buffalo  he  had  killed  and  rolled  him- 
self up  in  them  as  tight  as  he  could.  It 
was  not  long  before  the  hides  froze  and 
became  as  solid  as  a  plaster  mold.  There 
was  plenty  of  warmth  in  this  covering,  but 
the  enclosed  figure  could  not  move  an  inch. 
He  made  the  best  of  it,  however,  and  lay  thus 
enwrapped  until  morning,  when,  by  dint  of 
hard  squeezing  and  struggling,  he  managed 
to  crawl  out  of  his  narrow  cell.  His  first 
thought  was  to  find  out  what  had  become  of 
his  partner,  and  he  mounted  a  high  hill 
where  a  good  view  could  be  obtained  in  all 
directions;  but  no  trace  of  Riley  was  to  be 
seen.  Late  in  the  evening,  however,  the 
truant  hove  in  sight,  and,  in  spite  of  all, 
Youngblood  was  glad  enough  to  see  him; 
for,  as  he  had  no  matches  to  start  a  fire  to 
cook  anything,  he  had  not  had  an  atom  to 
eat  since  they  parted,  twenty-four  hours 
before.    After  the  pangs  of  hunger  were  sat- 

17 


258 


A  MIGHTY  HtnSTTEK. 


isfied,  they  loaded  tip  their  meat  and  started 
for  Goose  Creek;  bat  in  a  very  short  time  the 
skies  grew  dark  and  lowering,  and  there 
were  even  indications  of  a  snow-storm. 
They  did  not  go  far,  therefore,  but  drew  up 
their  wagon  and  camped  in  a  draw.  In  the 
morning  they  had  to  dig  themselves  out,  for 
the  snow  had  drifted  round  their  tent  to  a 
height  of  four  feet,  although  it  was  not 
more  than  six  inches  deep  on  a  level.  They 
tried  to  proceed  on  their  journey,  but  it  was 
still  snowing,  and  so  cold  and  disagreeable 
that  they  had  to  stop  again,  and  in  a  very 
short  time  found  themselves  snow-bound. 
When  it  at  last  cleared  off,  and  they  began 
to  make  preparations  to  move  out,  they 
found  their  wagon  so  badly  snowed  in  that 
it  was  a  long  and  difficult  task  to  shovel  it 
out.  After  a  hard  tug,  they  finally  reached 
Wallace,  just  two  weeks  from  the  time  they 
started. 

When  they  drove  into  the  station,  the 
people  came  running  excitedly  in  all  direc- 
tions to  ask  if  they  had  seen  or  heard  any- 


KANSAS  AS  A  HUNTING  GROUND.  259 

thing  of  the  Indians.  It  seems  that  there  had 
been  a  big  fight  in  the  vicinity  of  the  station 
— a  fight  in  which  twenty-eight  Indians  had 
been  killed — and  the  inhabitants  had  given 
Youngblood  and  his  companion  up  for  lost, 
although  they,  in  their  blissful  ignorance, 
had  never  dreamed  of  danger  from  the  red- 
skins. 

Shortly  after  this  buffalo  hunt,  Young- 
blood  was  engaged  in  a  wild-horse  chase. 
Three  of  them  started  out  to  take  three 
herds — one  apiece — and  with  them  were  four 
hands  to  help.  On  the  second  day  our 
hero  killed  a  load  of  buffalo,  and  dispatched 
a  man  to  Lakin  with  it.  They  then  kept  on 
until  they  found  the  wild  horses,  when  they 
camped  and  prepared  for  business. 

Youngblood  selected  for  his  a  herd  of 
twenty-six — twenty-five  bays  and  a  roan — 
while  the  other  two  took,  one  a  herd  of 
twenty-two,  and  the  other  a  herd  of  twenty- 
four.  They  were  all  three  on  their  mettle, 
and  each  determined  to  outstrip  his  compan- 
ions.   The  herds  started  in  the  same  general 


260 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


direction,  going  northwest  into  Colorado, 
about  100  miles  from  the  place  they  were 
first  discovered.  They  first  passed  through 
a  very  dry  country,  but  finally  came  to  a 
belt  of  land  where  the  rains  had  been  plenti- 
ful, and  the  grass  was  good.  The  horses 
wanted  to  stay  here,  and  began  circling  about. 
After  fifteen  days  hard  driving,  the  three 
men  finally  reached  Lakin  with  fifty-six  head. 

Here  had  been  prepared  a  corral,  made  of 
railroad  ties  set  about  eighteen  inches  in  the 
ground,  and  with  two  wings  built  in  the 
same  way.  It  was  with  no  little  difficulty 
that  all  the  horses  were  driven  into  the  cor- 
ral, and,  even  when  this  was  successfully 
accomplished,  there  was  a  still  harder  job  on 
hand;  for  all  the  captives  had  to  be  broken. 
The  method  used  was  this:  An  experienced 
cowboy  throws  a  lasso  over  the  head  of  one 
of  the  horses  and  chokes  him  down,  when  he 
is  bridled  and  held  prostrate  by  long  ropes 
until  he  is  conquered  and  consents  to  be  led 
about.  It  is  important  that  this  breaking-in 
process  be  undertaken  as  soon  as  the  horses 


KANSAS  AS  A  HUNTING  GKOUND.  261 

are  penned,  and  before  they  have  time  to 
rest;  and  they  must  be  handled  every  day 
afterward  until  they  become  perfectly  tame 
and  docile. 

The  third  hunt  that  Youngblood  made 
about  this  time  was  after  buffalo.  He  started 
out  from  Aubrey,  and  proceeded  north  of 
the  Arkansas  River.  When  he  had  driven 
about  forty  miles  he  came  to  a  small  lake 
where  there  were  evident  signs  of  a  recent 
visit  from  some  of  the  desired  game. 

Youngblood  soon  found  the  direction  in 
which  their  trail  led,  and  followed  it  up. 
When  he  had  gone  about  five  miles  he  dis- 
covered a  herd,  and,  leaving  his  two  men  with 
the  wagons,  he  crept  up  as  close  as  he  could; 
but,  in  spite  of  his  best  efforts,  he  succeeded 
in  wounding  only  one  before  they  dashed 
over  a  hill  and  were  out  of  sight.  He  noticed, 
however,  that  the  herd  was  bearing  round 
the  hill,  and  he  ran  across  to  intercept  them 
if  possible.  Suddenly,  as  he  was  running 
along  at  full  speed,  he  heard  something 
behind,  and,  turning,  saw  a  buffalo-calf  gal- 


262 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


loping  after  him.  It  had  probably  been 
asleep  when  the  rest  of  the  herd  had  been 
started.  It  was  a  small  one,  and  as  the  hunter 
stopped  it  came  straight  up  to  him,  only  to  be 
seized  and  held  until  the  men  and  teams  came 
up,  when  it  was  tied  and  put  into  a  wagon. 

Youngblood  then  continued  his  way  round 
the  hill,  and  when  he  got  to  the  other  side 
he  found  that  the  buffalo  he  had  wounded 
had  dropped  down  in  the  road;  but,  to  his 
unbounded  surprise,  one  of  its  hams  had 
entirely  disappeared.  This,  however,  was 
soon  explained,  for  on  looking  up  the  road 
he  saw  a  wagon  with  three  men  in  it  driving 
rapidly  away.  The  thieves  paid  dearly  for 
their  knavery,  however,  for  lying  near  the 
buffalo  was  a  fine  field-glass  which  they  had 
dropped  in  their  haste,  and  which  Young- 
blood  appropriated,  considering  himself  well 
paid  for  his  ham.  The  next  morning,  having 
camped  only  a  mile  away,  he  saw  two  of  the 
fellows  riding  back  and  forth,  in  all  proba- 
bility searching  for  the  glass,  which  they 
never  found. 


KANSAS  AS  A  HUNTING  GROUND.  263 

That  day  our  hunter  drove  a  few  miles  and 
found  five  buffalo,  but  only  got  one  when 
it  began  to  rain,  and  he  was  obliged  to 
return  to  the  station.  The  calf  died  on  the 
journey.  Despite  his  rather  poor  luck  with 
buffalo,  Youngblood  managed  to  kill  enough 
antelope  to  make  out  a  load,  and  to  feel  well 
repaid  for  his  time. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


WISE  MEN  OF  THE  EAST — AN  AUTHORITY  ON 
WOODCHUCK — BOUND  TO  EAT  IT,  MUD- 
HEN  OR  NOT — THE  TALE  OF  A  TAIL. 

During  the  summer  of  1877,  Youngblood 
did  but  little  hunting,  as  pelts  and  skins  are 
of  small  value  during  warm  weather,  and  he 
did  not  care  to  kill  the  goose  which  had 
thus  far  supplied  him  with  golden — or  rather 
paper — dollars. 

However,  he  kept  his  eye  in  training  and 
his  trigger-finger  limbered  up  by  piloting  a 
great  many  parties,  tenderfooted  and  other- 
wise, out  on  the  prairies,  and  he  did  not  realize 
until  then  the  close  resemblance  that  existed 
between  a  coyote  and  a  jack-rabbit;  at  least, 
those  two  quadrupeds  appeared  to  look  so 
much  alike  in  the  eyes  of  the  wise  men  of 
the  East  that  one  really  couldn't  tell  what 
these  Mmrods  had  brought  down  until  the 
last  man  of  their  party  had  given  his  opinion 

(265) 


266 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


and  backed  it  up  by  copious  references  to 
Buff  on  and  a  few  illustrated  posters  supplied 
by  that  great  educator  of  the  youth  of  this 
country — Mr.  P.  T.  Barnum. 

Among  those  for  whom  our  hero  acted  in 
this  capacity  was  a  party  of  surveyors  who 
were  laying  out  a  route  for  a  branch  of  the 
Rock  Island  Railroad,  and  who  wished  him 
to  accompany  them  for  the  double  purpose 
of  keeping  the  wolf  from  the  door  and  sup- 
plying them  with  fresh  meat.  It  was  rather 
fortunate  that  he  was  with  the  party,  for  the 
young  man  in  charge  of  the  commissary 
department  apparently  did  not  know  the 
difference  between  a  sage-hen  and  a  prairie- 
chicken,  or  at  least  thought  that,  in  the 
absence  of  the  latter,  the  former  would  fill 
in  a  satisfactory  manner  the  empty  pot  that 
usually  hung  on  their  camp-fire,  and  that 
empty  void  which  nature  particularly  ab- 
hors. To  one  who  has  attempted  to  eat  sage- 
hens,  it  will  be  unnecessary  to  say  that  one 
application  is  enough,  and  that  the  game 
Youngblood  was  able  to  furnish  made  a 


WISE  MEN  OF  THE  EAST.  267 

most  desirable  change,  as  even  customers  of 
Delmonico's  will  admit  that  brook- trout, 
prairie-chicken,  teal-duck,  antelope,  and  now 
and  then  a  tender  bear-steak,  are  rather  better 
than  the  young  surveyor's  sage-hen  and 
Chicago  sour-bellies. 

As  soon  as  the  weather  grew  cooler,  Young- 
blood  returned  to  headquarters,  and  in  the 
month  of  October,  while  preparing  to  make 
a  real  hunt,  was  prevailed  upon  by  an  old 
friend  of  his,  named  Bennett,  to  take  him 
and  a  Mr.  Weeks,  of  Iowa,  for  a  little  tour. 

Hank  Bennett  had  seen  our  hero  come  in 
from  many  a  hunt,  and  was  wild  to  get  a 
crack  at  some  game  himself;  while  Weeks 
had  probably  never  seen  anything  wild 
larger  than  an  Iowa  gopher,  or  perhaps  a 
woodchuck  of  the  crop  of  1840.  Young- 
blood  was  quite  willing  to  give  them  a  good 
time;  so  he  loaded  up  his  prairie-schooner, 
and  they  started,  the  objective  point  being  a 
stream  about  twenty-five  miles  distant. 

Here  they  camped,  and  while  Hank  was 
getting  things  in  shape  for  supper,  Young- 


268 


A  MIGHTY  HUISTTEE. 


blood  tried  a  new  Winchester  on  a  few  jack- 
rabbits;  but  as  they  had  plenty  of  meat  with 
them,  he  did  not  bother  to  get  them, 
although  he  wished  afterward  that  he  had 
not  left  them  lying  round. 

After  they  had  eaten,  smoked  their  pipes, 
and  swapped  the  customary  number  of 
stories  over  the  camp-fire,  they  turned  in 
with  the  expectation  of  a  good  sleep  and  an 
early  start;  but  were  fooled,  as  far  as  sleep 
was  concerned,  for  the  jack-rabbits  Young- 
blood  had  killed  brought  the  coyotes  and 
wolves  around  in  hundreds,  and  their  snarl- 
ing and  fighting  kept  up  so  that  rest  was  out 
of  the  question. 

The  brutes  finally  settled  around  a  couple 
of  the  rabbits,  and  were  holding  a  regular 
town-meeting;  so  Youngblood,  in  despair,  got 
up,  and,  taking  a  piece  of  burning  wood  from 
the  fire,  gave  them  a  lively  chase,  which  put 
an  end  to  their  yelling  for  the  night. 

The  party  got  a  good  start  in  the  morning, 
and  pushed  on  for  a  pool  about  twenty  miles 
distant,  where  Youngblood  proposed  to  make 


WISE  MEN  OF  THE  EAST.  269 

their  permanent  camp.  Prairie-dogs  were 
thicker  than  vermin  on  a  Sioux' s  back,  and 
Weeks  said  that  he  had  never  seen  so  many- 
young  woodchucks  before,  so  took  advantage 
of  the  opportunity  and  caught  two,  declaring 
he  wanted  to  bring  them  up  as  pets.  It  is  to 
be  hoped  that  they  have  grown  to  the  size  of 
the  regulation  Iowa  woodchuck  by  this  time; 
Weeks  said  they  would,  and  he  appeared  to 
be  an  authority  on  woodchucks. 

About  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  pool 
was  reached,  and  while  Youngblood  and 
Weeks  were  unhitching,  Hank  Bennett 
started  off  on  a  tour  of  observation.  In  about 
ten  minutes  he  came  running  back,  with  his 
long,  yellow  hair  flying,  and  his  thin  legs 
going  too  fast  to  cast  a  shadow,  with  the 
information  that  a  little  further  up  the  pool 
was  filled  with  ducks,  and  that  he  wanted  to 
have  a  show  at  them. 

He  was  very  much  excited,  and  Young- 
blood  said  "  Gro  ahead!"  so  he  made  a  break 
for  the  wagon  to  get  his  gun,  but  was  so  torn 
up  with  the  thought  of  ducks  that  he  carried 


270 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


one  of  the  " medicine"  jugs  about  five  rods 
from  the  schooner  before  Youngblood  in- 
formed him  that  it  contained  bait  for  fish- 
ing, and  could  not  be  used  to  good  advantage 
on  duck.  He  seemed  surprised,  and  said  he 
thought  " everything  went"  while  hunting, 
but  finally  got  out  his  gun,  and  Weeks  went 
with  him  to  bring  in  the  dead. 

Youngblood  heard  a  good  many  shots 
shortly  after,  and  in  about  half  an  hour 
back  came  the  boys  with  the  game.  Hank 
had  five  birds,  and  it  was  hard  to  tell  who 
felt  the  prouder,  Bennett  for  killing  them, 
or  Weeks  for  being  in  such  good  company. 

When  they  got  within  speaking  distance, 
Hank  held  up  the  game  and  called  out : 

"  Ain't  they  dandies?" 

' '  What  ? ' '  asked  Youngblood. 

"Why,  these  teal,  of  course." 

Youngblood  could  scarcely  repress  his 
laughter.  ' '  Teal !  "  he  chuckled.  1 '  Why, 
you  hayseed,  those  are  mud-hens,  and  a 
starved  coyote  would  twist  up  his  tail  in 
pain  if  he  was  asked  to  eat  them." 


WISE  MEN  OF  THE  EAST.  271 

Poor  Hank  felt  very  sore  over  this,  but 
admitted  that  his  friend  was  right,  after  he 
had  tried  to  eat  one  of  the  hens  which  he 
roasted  for  his  supper.  The  same  old  hen, 
with  Bennett's  tooth-marks  in  it,  is  prob- 
ably there  yet,  for  there  never  yet  was  found 
anybody  or  anything  that  could  eat  one. 

The  next  morning,  while  Youngblood  was 
smoking  his  pipe  and  taking  things  easy, 
Bennett  came  rushing  up  and  told  him  that 
there  was  an  antelope  a  little  way  from 
camp,  and  wanted  him  to  go  and  get  it.  It 
is  needless  to  say  the  hunter  was  willing, 
and,  getting  his  rifle,  he  started,  with  Hank 
and  Weeks  trailing  after,  they  wishing  to 
see  the  operation  from  start  to  finish. 

The  game  was  a  single  buck,  and  was 
feeding  quietly  in  an  open  spot,  so  that  it 
was  necessary  to  use  great  caution  in  getting 
within  range.  This  was  rather  a  difficult 
matter  for  Youngblood  to  accomplish,  with 
the  boys  tramping  on  his  trail;  but,  after  a 
good  deal  of  crawling  and  skirmishing,  he 
got  the  drop  on  Mr.  Buck,  who  threw  up  his 


272 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


hands,  or  rather  his  tail,  and  passed  in  his 
checks,  much  to  the  delight  of  Weeks  and 
Bennett,  who  then  voted  the  "hunt"  a  big 
success,  and  were  ready  to  go  home,  think- 
ing that  the  combination  had  done  wonders. 

This  proposition  was  agreeable  to  Young- 
blood,  so  they  headed  for  Coolidge,  and, 
after  traveling  eight  or  ten  miles,  antelope 
were  discovered  some  distance  to  the  left. 
Leaving  Weeks  and  Bennett  with  the  team, 
which  by  that  time  had  been  backed  into  a 
hollow  out  of  sight,  Youngblood  started  for 
the  game,  going  around  them  for  the  pur- 
pose of  driving  them  toward  the  wagon 
when  they  should  break  away  after  his  fire. 
They  were  grazing  toward  the  spot  where  he 
had  left  his  outfit,  and  when  within  seventy- 
five  or  one  hundred  yards  of  it,  he  fired, 
bringing  down  a  fine  buck  and  wounding 
another.  The  latter  made  straight  for  the 
wagon,  but  it  was  evident  from  his  jumps 
that  he  was  badly  hurt. 

Of  course,  Youngblood  started  after  him 
at  a  lively  gait,  and  was  just  going  to  pump 


WISE  MEN  OF  THE  EAST.  273 

another  dose  of  lead  into  him,  when  who 
should  jump  from  a  hole  close  to  him  but 
Hank,  who  made  a  dash  at  the  antelope,  and 
in  some  way  got  hold  of  his  stump  of  a  tail, 
and  held  on  like  grim  death  to  a  dead  nig- 
ger. The  buck  kept  going,  however,  almost 
jerking  Hank's  teeth  out  at  every  spring, 
and  making  his  legs  look  like  wagon-spokes 
going  at  a  "  forty "  pace;  but  the  harder  he 
jumped,  the  madder  got  Bennett,  and  the 
stronger  got  his  hold. 

"Go  it!"  yelled  Hank.  "  Go  it,  you 
darned  old  white-bellied  goat!  I'm  from 
Posey  County,  Indiana,  and  you  can't 
shake  me !  " 

But  the  louder  Bennett  yelled,  the  more 
scared  the  buck  got,  and  put  in  his  best  licks 
for  freedom,  clearing  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet 
at  a  jump. 

Hank  began  to  think  he  had  bitten  off  a 
bigger  cud  than  he  could  chew,  and  began 
to  scream : 

"  Charley  !  Weeks  !  Here,  you ;  some- 
body head  us  darned  fools  off  !  " 

18 


274 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


But  suddenly,  while  the  other  two  were 
paralyzed  with  laughter,  the  buck  stepped 
into  a  dog-hole  and  fell,  and  Hank  made  a 
jump  for  his  head,  and  sat  on  it  until  Young- 
blood  ran  up  and  cut  his  throat. 

Bennett  was  very  proud  of  his  achieve- 
ment, and  wanted  to  start  right  then  for 
Coolidge  and  tell  his  wife  all  about  the  trip; 
but  night  was  coming  on,  and,  as  they  were 
fifteen  or  twenty  miles  from  town,  his  com- 
panions prevailed  upon  him  to  give  up  the 
idea  of  walking  in,  that  night ;  so,  after  sup- 
per, they  all  turned  in,  got  a  good  sleep,  and 
started  early  the  next  morning  for  Coolidge. 

During  the  ride  in,  Youngblood  added  five 
antelope  to  the  lot,  while  Weeks  and  Ben- 
nett knocked  out  several  jack-rabbits  and 
ducks;  which  ended  what  was,  for  a  short 
trip,  one  of  the  pleasantest  picnics  our  hero 
ever  attended,  and  equally  enjoyed  by  all. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

' 6  NO  MAN' S  LAND  " — "  CHEYENNE  JIM ' '  — THE 
ACE  OF  SPADES — YOUNGBLOOD  VeTSUS 
WOLVES. 

In  the  latter  part  of  October,  Yonngblood 
and  one  of  his  sons  made  elaborate  prepara- 
tions for  an  extended  hunt,  and  on  about 
the  20th  of  the  month  started,  with 
two  teams,  for  "No  Man's  Land,'5  where 
they  expected  to  find  buffalo,  antelope,  etc., 
in  abundance.  Their  route  took  them 
through  Minneapolis  County,  and  at  every 
stopping-place  they  were  objects  of  much 
interest  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  towns,  who 
gathered  round  the  wagons  with  that  intense 
interest  which  anything  out  of  the  common 
run  excites  in  the  minds  of  people  who  have 
more  time  to  devote  to  other  persons'  affairs 
than  they  can  possibly  spare  for  their  own. 
The  settlers  were  much  astonished  at  the 
large  quantity  of  ammunition  carried,  and 

(275) 


276 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


seemed  to  think  that  immediate  efforts  were 
to  be  made  to  exterminate  all  the  red-skins 
west  of  the  Rockies.  Some  of  the  more  in- 
quisitive began  to  handle  the  poison,  .and  to 
speculate  as  to  what  use  it  was  to  be  put  to, 
and  were  greatly  delighted  when  a  smart 
Aleck  informed  them  that  they  were  hired  by 
the  Government  to  settle  the  vexed  question 
of  Mr.  uLo"  in  this  manner,  they  believ- 
ing, with  gallant  Phil.  Sheridan,  that  the 
only  truly  good  Indian  is  a  dead  one.  After 
this  shrewd  guess  had  been  made,  and  good 
luck  wished  them,  together  with  the  assur- 
ance that  the  hunters  "knew  their  busi- 
ness," they  pushed  on  to  the  southern  line 
of  the  State  of  Colorado,  where  their  busi- 
ness again  demanded  the  attention  of  the 
guessers,  and  caused  plenty  of  money  to 
go  over  the  bar  at  the  " Little  Heaven'5 
saloon. 

Cimarron  River  was  soon  reached,  where 
the  party  was  delayed  a  day  or  two  by  a 
threatened  storm,  which  fortunately  did  not 
materialize;  but,  as  game  was  very  scarce  in 


"no  man's  land." 


277 


that  section,  another  jump  of  fifty  miles  was 
made,  to  where  there  was  a  good  outlook  for 
what  the  expedition  was  after.  Enough 
antelope,  rabbits,  etc.,  were  killed  to  keep 
the  larder  well  filled  with  fresh  meat,  and 
while  finishing  a  dinner  from  this  bill  of  fare, 
one  day,  a  party  of  typical  cowboys  came 
dashing  up  on  their  ratty-looking  cayuses, 
and,  after  giving  the  customary  yells,  and 
shots  from  their  "44s,"  the  "boss"  said: 
"  Youngblood,  have  you  got  any  fresh  meat? 
We  ain't  proud;  the  last  stuff  of  that  kind 
I  eat  was  the  left  ear  of  a  Government  mule; 
so  if  you  can  take  that  taste  out  of  my 
mouth,  I'll  give  you  the  first  two-headed 
bull-calf  that  my  bronco  drops." 

Of  course,  in  that  part  of  the  country 
everything  is  fun,  and  a  man  is  expected 
to  take  anything  he  wants,  except  horses— 
those  the  line  is  drawn  at.  But  when  a  fel- 
low has  certain  reasons  for  wishing  for 
another  man's  life,  he  may  have  it,  if  he  can 
get  the  drop  first,  and  no  questions  are  asked. 

The  "boss"  of  this  particular  gang  was 


278 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTEK. 


"  Cheyenne  Jim,"  who  had  the  reputation  of 
being  a  pretty  good  man  at  any  kind  of  gun 
game;  so,  after  the  " punchers"  had  filled 
up  on  antelope  and  such  truck,  they  began 
fooling  with  their  "44s,"  and  did  some  shoot- 
ing that  would  make  Doctor  Carver's  hair 
curl  tighter  than  the  eastern  barbers  are 
able  to  make  it. 

Jim  had  downed  his  gang  in  shboting  at  a 
mark,  and  began  to  banter  Youngblood 
(who  had  up  to  that  time  taken  no  part  in 
the  fun)  to  shoot  against  him.  The  latter 
held  off  for  some  time;  but  Jim  was  so  dead- 
set  to  have  a  "go"  that  he  even  offered  to 
bet  his  new  "slickers"  against  Young- 
blood's  hat  that  he  could  beat  him.  Now, 
the  "slickers"  were  new,  and  would  just 
about  fit  Youngblood,  so  it  didn't  take  long 
to  get  him  warmed  up.  The  rest  of  the  cow- 
propellers  gathered  round,  and  yelled  like 
wild  men  when  Jim  drove  a  hole  through  the 
spot  in  the  ace  of  spades  which  was  stuck  up 
on  a  tree  about  fifty  yards  distant,  and  hit 
the  card  with  his  two  remaining  shots. 


"no  man's  land." 


279 


Youngblood  didn't  say  much,  but  put  up 
another  ace  on  the  same  tree,  and  fired  three 
times  in  as  many  seconds.  When  he  drop- 
ped his  revolver,  the  pip  was  out  of  the  ace, 
but  no  marks  of  the  two  other  bullets,  and 
the  cowboys  raised  a  great  noise,  feeling  cer- 
tain that  Jim  had  won. 

"Hold  on,"  says  Youngblood;  "those  are 
pretty  good  'schaps'  you're  wearing,  Jim, 
and  I'll  bet  you  my  gun  against  them  that  I 
beat  you." 

Jim  couldn't  take  the  bet  too  quick,  and 
the  gang  went  to  the  tree  to  decide  the  wager. 
Sure  enough,  the  center-spot  was  gone  from 
Jim's  card,  which  also  showed  two  other 
holes  within  two  inches  of  the  first  one.  In 
Youngblood' s  card  there  was  only  one  mark, 
right  in  the  exact  center;  but  without  chang- 
ing a  muscle  of  his  face,  he  pulled  out  his 
knife  and  showed  Mr.  Cheyenne  Jim 
that  all  three  of  his  bullets  had  gone  in  the 
single  hole! 

There  was  nothing  for  Jim  to  do  but  shed 
his  "slickers"  and  "schaps,"  and  admit 


280 


A  MIGHTY  HUJSTTER. 


defeat,  which  he  did  gracefully,  and,  with  a 
sorrowful  and  sickly  smile  on  his  face, 
"  cinched"  up,  and,  with  his  gang,  rode  off, 
taking  with  him  a  pot  of  bear's  grease  pre- 
sented by  Youngblood,  who  knew  that  in 
the  absence  of  " slickers"  he  would  have  to 
apply  it  next  morning,  or  do  his  eating  stand- 
ing up. 

By  the  time  this  monkey-business  was 
over,  it  was  too  late  to  think  of  doing  any 
work;  so  after  supper  the  hunters  turned  in, 
to  wake  the  next  morning  and  find  two  of 
the  horses  missing. 

Now,  to  be  a  couple  of  hundred  miles  or 
so  away  from  home,  without  horses,  and  with 
Indians  liable  to  turn  up  at  any  minute,  is 
not  a  pleasant  sensation;  so  the  first  thing  to 
do  was  to  get  the  live  stock. 

At  first  the  thought  was  that  the  cowboys 
had  taken  them  as  a  practical  joke;  but 
Youngblood  soon  found  their  trail,  which 
was  very  fresh,  so  concluded  they  had 
strayed  off  only,  and  sent  his  son  to  round 
them  up,  while  he  looked  after  the  balance 
of  the  outfit. 


"no  man's  land." 


281 


The  younger  man  had  not  been  gone  long 
when  Youngblood  caught  sight  of  two  ante- 
lope about  1,000  yards  off,  and,  getting  his 
gun,  started  for  them.  The  only  thing  that 
could  hide  him  from  their  sight  was  a  patch 
of  sage-brush  here  and  there,  and,  after  a 
good  deal  of  crawling,  he  finally  got  within 
500  yards,  and  let  go;  the  buck  dropped  dead 
in  his  tracks,  and  as  the  doe  started  for  the 
timber,  another  shot  made  her  change  her 
mind,  and  she  went  to  join  her  mate. 

In  about  half  an  hour  the  horses  were 
driven  back  to  the  wagons  and  hitched  up  to 
get  the  two  dead  antelope.  When  they  were 
reached,  Youngblood  was  surprised  to  find 
them  already  half  eaten,  and  to  see  three 
gray  wolves,  about  as  big  as  a  good-sized 
Newfoundland  dog,  sneaking  off  into  the 
timber,  and  licking  their  chops  as  though 
they  enjoyed  the  joke  they  had  played  on  him. 

This  was  a  little  too  much  for  an  old 
hunter  to  stand;  so,  after  staying  in  the 
neighborhood  for  a  few  days,  and  getting 
about  twenty  more  head  of  antelope  (about 


282 


A  MIGHTY  HOTTEE. 


all  that  remained  of  the  herd),  Youngblood 
started  his  son  for  Boston,  Col.,  while  he 
remained  to  have  his  fun  with  the  wolves. 
Making  a  fresh-meat  drag  of  a  couple  of  the 
dead  antelope,  he  hauled  them  in  a  circle  of 
about  two  miles,  to  give  a  strong  scent,  and 
then  returned  to  within  fifty  yards  of  his 
starting-point. 

By  this  time  the  sun  was  only  about  half 
an  hour  high,  and  the  gray  boys  were  begin- 
ning to  gather  at  the  scent,  so  the  poison- 
boxes  were  brought  into  use,  and  a  toothsome 
repast  prepared  for  the  expected  dear  ones. 
Youngblood  didn't  care  to  trouble  himself 
to  act  as  host,  knowing  that  his  guests  did 
not  stand  upon  the  ceremony  of  host,  so  he 
turned  in  to  await  the  result  of  his  feast. 

In  the  morning  he  counted  thirty-six  here- 
tofore able-bodied  wolves  who  had  become 
tired  of  life,  and  taking  their  clothes — they 
having  no  further  use  for  them — he  left  their 
bodies  to  the  tender  mercies  of  their  brethren, 
who,  with  that  generosity  peculiar  to  their 
race,  cleaned  them  up  in  short  order. 


"NO  MAN'S  LAND." 


283 


Pulling  up  stakes,  our  hero  started  for 
Boston  to  pick  up  his  son,  getting  on  the 
way  in  the  neighborhood  of  fifty  antelope, 
and  then  passed  through  Minneapolis,  Col., 
and  Border  City,  Kan.,  toward  Coolidge, 
where  he  intended  to  dispose  of  the  skins 
and  pelts  taken. 

When  a  day  or  two  out  from  the  latter 
point,  he  gathered  in  twelve  antelope,  which 
were  taken  into  town  and  sold  to  Messrs. 
Hawkins  &  Crittenden,  butchers,  who  were 
mighty  glad  to  get  them. 

On  the  whole,  the  trip  was  a  good  one,  as 
it  ended  profitably,  and  without  the  hard- 
ships and  dangers  which  attended  other 
expeditions  made  by  Youngblood,  both 
before  and  after. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


TERRIBLE  WEATHER — PRAIRIE  HOSPITALITY 
—  A  GAME  OF  BLUFF—  YOUJSTGBLOOD  TO 
THE  FORE. 

After  spending  a  few  days  to  give  their 
stock  a  little  rest  and  lay  in  the  necessary 
supplies  for  another  trip,  Youngblood  and 
his  son  again  started  out  "on  business;" 
but  came  nearer  reaching  the  "  happy  hunt- 
ing-ground" of  Indian  tradition  than  (for 
them)  the  more  satisfactory  stamping-place 
of  the  buffalo  and  the  antelope.  The  first 
night  out,  one  of  their  horses  was  taken 
sick  in  some  mysterious  manner,  and  died, 
leaving  them,  at  the  outset  of  their  journey, 
in  a  position  much  like  a  rudderless  ship  in 
mid  ocean. 

The  sudden  taking  off  of  this  animal  was, 
to  say  the  least,  suspicious;  and  as  the  suc- 
cess of  our  friends  in  the  hunting-field  had 
caused  considerable  envy  to  be  felt  by  less 

(285) 


286 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


fortunate  sportsmen,  Yonngblood  naturally 
suspected  foul  play;  but,  nothing  daunted 
by  their  serious  mishap,  they  gave  no 
thought  to  abandoning  their  trip,  and  the 
younger  hunter  was  dispatched  to  civiliza- 
tion for  a  new  horse.  Immediately  upon  his 
return  they  again  got  under  way,  pointing 
for  the  "  Neutral  Ground, "  and  in  about 
six  days  began  to  strike  antelope  in  great 
plenty. 

We  will  not  tire  our  readers  with  a  descrip- 
tion of  their  various  devices  for  securing 
these  wary  animals;  suffice  it  to  say  that 
they  soon  obtained  their  load,  and  started 
on  their  return  journey  for  the  purpose  of 
disposing  of  the  results  of  their  unerring 
rifles. 

The  weather  by  this  time  had  become 
exceedingly  cold,  and  at  each  settlement 
which  they  passed  through  stories  were  told 
of  the  horrible  deaths  by  freezing  that  befell 
the  unfortunates  who  became  lost  on  the 
prairies.  To  those  who  have  never  experi- 
enced really  cold  weather  on  the  plains, 


TEERIBLE  WEATHER.  287 

imagination  is  but  a  small  aid  to  the  realiz- 
ing sense  which  we  each  possess,  and  no  de- 
scription can  adequately  describe  the  feeling 
that  comes  over  one  who  is  alone  in  a  track- 
less waste  of  snow,  with  nothing  human 
within  sight  or  hearing.  The  clear,  dry  air 
almost  freezes  the  marrow  in  one's  bones, 
bringing  in  its  still  embrace  a  sensation  of 
almost  pleasure,  which  to  submit  to  is 
death. 

At  Boston  and  Minneapolis,  Col.,  as  well 
as  at  Border  City,  Kan.,  Youngblood  and 
his  son  heard  continual  reports  of  deaths 
from  the  terrible  weather,  and  were  urged  to 
wait  for  a  favorable  change,  but  declined 
doing  so,  heroically  pushing  on  over  ground 
covered  with  snow  to  the  depth  of  from  three 
to  four  feet  on  a  level. 

Finally,  however,  home  was  reached,  and 
the  tired  men  were  heartily  welcomed  by 
their  friends,  the  jaded  beasts  also  coming 
in  for  their  share  in  the  general  rejoicing. 

After  resting  for  a  month,  Youngblood 
became  tired  of  what  to  his  active  disposi* 


288 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


tion  seemed  idleness,  and  made  up  his  mind 
to  take  a  run  into  "No  Man's  Land,"  to  see 
what  could  be  found  in  the  way  of  game. 

For  about  four  days  his  journey  was  an 
uneventful  one;  but  one  night,  when  he  was 
near  the  center  of  the  "  Panhandle"  strip,  a 
fierce  hail-storm  came  up,  nearly  freezing 
him  to  death,  he  being  obliged  to  make  his 
bed  in  four  inches  of  hail,  and  on  wet 
blankets.  The  night  seemed  endless;  he 
dared  not  sleep,  knowing  that  if  he  did  so 
he  would  never  awake,  and  when  morning 
dawned  he  was  nearly  overcome  with  fatigue 
and  cold,  and  having  no  fuel,  of  course,  a 
fire  was  impossible.  The  hail,  however, 
soon  disappeared,  and  he  finally  was  able  to 
make  a  fire,  fortunately  having  some  matches 
which  he  had  wrapped  in  a  piece  of  rubber 
cloth,  thus  keeping  them  dry.  These  storms 
usually  cover  a  long  but  narrow  section  of 
country,  Youngblood  finding  the  one  in 
question  to  be  about  three  miles  wide,  and 
our  readers  may  feel  certain  that  he  was 
glad  when  he  was  out  of  the  "belt,"  and 


I 


TEKKIBLE  WEATHEK. 


289 


seated  before  a  huge  fire  of  buffalo-chips  for 
a  thorough  warming. 

After  this  agreeable  pastime  had  been 
indulged  in  to  his  satisfaction,  and  the  crav- 
ings of  the  inner  man  appeased,  he  again 
started.  After  traveling  about  thirty  miles 
he  reached  a  spring,  where  he  found  two 
men  in  camp.  With  that  hospitality  that  is 
customary  in  the  West,  they  invited  him  to 
spend  the  night,  an  invitation  which  he 
gladly  accepted;  and  the  result  was  that  a 
very  pleasant  day  was  passed  with  them — a 
sudden  snow-storm  making  still  closer  the 
intimacy  which  is  usually  the  result  of  three 
in  a  bed — or  rather  three  in  a  tent. 

With  clearing  weather  our  hero  bade  good- 
by  to  his  newly  made  friends,  and  started 
for  a  small  stream  some  twenty  miles  south. 
Here  he  found  two  men  who  had  evidently — 
in  their  minds — preempted  the  hunting  priv- 
ileges about  it,  as  they  had  " bluffed  out" 
other  hunters  as  fast  as  they  came.  They 
began  to  operate  on  Youngblood  in  the  same 

manner;  but  he  was  too  old  a  bird  to  be  so 
10 


290 


A. MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


easily  caught,  and  after  apparently  swallow- 
ing their  tales  of  Mexican  Rangers  coming 
up  and  arresting  men  almost  without  num- 
ber, and  taking  them  off  for  trial,  he  finally 
began  to  laugh,  and  said:  "Well,  boys, 
that's  a  pretty  good  tune;  but  I  have  been 
listening  to  that  kind  of  singing  for  eighteen 
years,  so  don't  get  discouraged  if  I  don't  get 
enthusiastic  and  say  it's  original  music." 

This  appeared  to  surprise  the  would-be 
owners  of  the  earth,  and  they  asked  if  he 
really  had  been  about  there  so  long. 

'  c  Why, ' '  said  our  wily  old  friend,  4  £  I  guess 
that's  a  fact,  for  I  helped  clear  the  wolves 
out  of  this  country;  but  I  see  there  are  two 
that  I  kinder  overlooked.  I'm  still  after 
'em,  though." 

The  men  saw  the  point,  and  were  so  much 
pleased  with  the  hearty  way  of  the  sturdy 
hunter  that  they  became  very  friendly,  and 
the  result  was  that  he  remained  several  days 
with  them. 

There  were  a  good  many  antelope — about 
twenty-six  in  all — in  the  region,  which  soon 


TERRIBLE  WEATHER. 


291 


fell  victims  to  his  faithful  Winchester,  and 
a  couple  of  buffalo  also  "bit  the  dust"  at 
his  fire. 

A  Mr.  French,  from  Maine,  was  one  of  the 
men  just  referred  to,  and  he  and  Young- 
blood  soon  became  very  "chummy."  This 
gentleman  was  a  Mason  and  a  fine  fellow,  in 
every  way  worthy  to  be  associated  with  our 
hero. 

No  more  game  appearing  inclined  to  turn 
up,  a  move  toward  Coolidge,  Kan.,  was 
made,  where,  upon  arrival,  Youngblood 
found  one  of  his  sons  very  sick,  with  Doc- 
tors Smith  and  Boggs  in  attendance,  who, 
although  doing  all  in  their  power,  had  given 
him  up  as  beyond  hope.  This  was  truly  a 
sad  home-coming  for  our  gallant  friend;  but 
his  grief  was  soon  turned  to  joy,  for,  through 
the  great  care  of  these  able  physicians,  and 
aided  by  the  best  gift  of  a  stalwart  father  to 
his  son — a  glorious  constitution — the  disease 
turned,  and  happiness  was  soon  in  full  com- 
mand at  the  hunter's  western  home. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

ROLLINS'  RANCH — A  MONARCH  OF  THE  PLAINS 
— JOLLY  GOOD  FELLOWS. 

On  the  10th  of  March,  although  it  was  still 
unusually  cold,  Youngblood  and  French 
started  again  for  " No  Man's  Land,"  being 
determined  to  work  it  for  all  it  was  worth 
in  the  way  of  game;  and  after  traveling  four 
days,  reached  the  center  of  the  strip.  Just 
before  they  arrived  at  this  point,  they  dis- 
covered a  gray  wolf  on  their  trail,  and  as  our 
friend  has  the  same  affection  for  wolves  as  we 
are  informed  His  Satanic  Majesty  holds  for 
holy  water,  he  left  the  team,  telling  French  to 
drive  on,  and  in  a  few  minutes  returned  with 
a  skin  which  looked  suspiciously  like  that 
worn  by  Mr.  Wolf,  and  if  the  latter  ever 
reached  the  bosom  of  his  family,  he  must 
have  made  the  journey  without  a  pelt! 

A  tremor  of  interest  was  also  caused  by 
the  discovery  of  some  animals  quite  a  dis- 

(293) 


294 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


tance  from  them,  and  after  using  all  the 
tricks  of  old  hunters,  finally  our  adventurers 
drew  near  enough  to  discover  that  they  were 
cattle  and  a  bunch  of  wild  horses  which  had 
come  in  for  water.  It  was  natural  to  sup- 
pose that  buffalo  would  also  make  use  of 
the  spring,  and  therefore  Youngblood  and 
French  kept  watch  during  the  night,  "  lay- 
ing for  them;"  but  they  were  too  cunning, 
and  failed  to  appear. 

It  being  useless  to  remain  in  this  spot  any 
longer,  a  start  was  made  toward  the  south, 
and  after  going  about  twenty -five  miles  they 
reached  a  spring  where  three  men  were  found 
who  had  been  on  a  hunt,  and  had  bagged 
one  buffalo.  This  showed  that  there  were 
some  in  the  neighborhood,  and  a  wait  over 
night  was  made,  but  as  no  game  appeared, 
our  party  bore  off  to  the  east  twenty  miles, 
reaching  Howard's  ranch  in  time  to  avoid  a 
two-days'  snow-storm.  French  concluded 
that  the  work  was  too  tough  for  even  him, 
and  consequently  Youngblood,  who  wouldn't 
be  " bluffed"  by  any  one,   started  south 


ROLLINS'  RANCH. 


295 


alone,  reaching  Rollins'  ranch,  which  was 
situated  on  a  fine  stream. 

Rollins,  who  proved  to  be  a  fine  fellow,  was 
at  home,  and  he  and  Yonngblood  soon  be- 
came very  great  friends.  The  former  insisted 
upon  the  latter' s  putting  in  a  few  days  with 
him,  and  Youngblood  was  nothing  loath  to  do 
so,  as  Rollins  said  buffalo  came  to  the  stream 
daily  for  water.  The  house  was  beautifully 
situated,  and  commanded  a  fine  view  of  as 
delightful  a  scene  as  is  often  witnessed;  the 
rolling  prairie  extending  in  one  direction  as 
far  as  the  eye  could  see,  while  there  was  a  fine 
belt  of  timber  to  the  right,  the  wood  extend- 
ing down  the  stream  for  a  considerable  dis- 
tance, and  one  sitting  in  the  door  of  the  cabin 
could  see  the  pool  frequented  by  the  big 
brutes  our  friend  was  after. 

Youngblood  was  sitting  about,  smoking, 
occasionally  glancing  out  for  game,  while 
Rollins  was  preparing  a  dinner  which  a 
lover  of  game  would  go  miles  to  partake  of. 
The  delicious  aroma  of  venison  and  brook- 
trout  was  playing  about  Youngblood' s  nos- 


296 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


trils,  when,  glancing  out  of  the  door,  he  saw 
a  fine  buffalo-bull  leave  the  water,  and  after 
shaking  his  shaggy  head,  as  it  would  seem, 
by  way  of  challenge,  started  away.  When 
discovered,  the  bull  was  about  half  a  mile 
off;  but  Youngblood  sprang  for  his  rifle, 
and  in  an  instant  was  out  of  the  door  and 
after  him  like  a  deer.  The  immense  brute 
passed  over  a  ridge  before  our  hunter  had 
gotten  within  range;  but  he  ran  to  the  top 
of  the  hill,  and,  although  the  shot  was  a  long 
one,  he  fired,  wounding  the  brute,  who  at 
once  turned,  and  started  round  the  base  of 
the  eminence.  But  the  monarch  of  the 
plains  was  not  to  get  off  so  easily,  as  he  had 
met  his  master  this  time.  Youngblood, 
anticipating  his  actions,  ran  to  the  foot  of 
the  hill  to  await  his  coming,  and  had  hardly 
got  into  position  when  the  infuriated  bull 
charged  him,  and  would  have  put  an  end  to 
these  adventures  had  not  a  perfectly  aimed 
shot  brought  him  to  his  knees,  and  the 
gleaming  knife  of  our  hunter  sent  him  to 
the  land  of  the  good  buffalo. 


ROLLINS'  RANCH. 


297 


While  Youngblood  was  returning  to  the 
ranch,  he  met  Rollins  coming  from  there 
with  two  knives  in  his  hand. 

"What  axe  those  for?"  asked  Young- 
blood. 

"Why,"  said  Rollins,  "to  undress  Mr. 
Buffalo,  of  course;  you  didn't  think  I  wanted 
to  eat  him  with  his  coat  on,  did  you? •  " 

"You're  fooled  this  time,"  said  our 
hunter,  by  way  of  a  joke;  "I  missed  him." 

"Come  off!"  remarked  the  ranch-owner. 
"I'd  hate  to  have  to  eat  all  you  didn't  miss. 
You  don't  miss  nothing.  Where's  the  bull?" 

Youngblood' s  joke  would  not  go  down  in 
the  face  of  his  reputation,  so  he  finally  ad- 
mitted that  he  had  not  missed  this  time; 
and  the  buffalo  was  soon  stripped  of  his  hide 
and  taken  to  the  ranch,  wThere  some  juicy 
steaks  were  served  for  supper,  much  to  the 
surprise  of  some  travelers  who  drove  up  just 
before  dusk,  as  they  had  no  idea  that  such 
game  was  within  a  hundred  miles  of  the 
house. 

It  was  a  jolly  party  that  spent  that  night 


298  A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 

at  Rollins'  ranch,  and  those  present  will  not 
soon  forget  the  good  cheer  that  was  freely 
offered  by  their  host.  The  party  consisted 
of  Dr.  I.  J.  Nair,  Messrs.  J.  H.  Becker,  J. 
W.  Whitesell,  and  Daniel  Crough,  besides 
Youngblood  and  Rollins.  The  first-named 
gentlemen  were  out  for  the  purpose  of  select- 
ing a  town-site,  and  had  located  it  a  few 
miles  from  Rollins',  being  much  pleased 
with  the  surrounding  country,  where,  before 
many  years  have  passed,  will  be  found  one 
of  the  most  prosperous  cities  in  the  West,  as 
nature  has  abundantly  supplied  it  with  her 
choicest  gifts,  and  these  gentlemen  certainly 
are  brainy  enough  to  do  the  rest. 

Of  course,  many  a  story  was  told  that 
night  round  the  open  fire,  each  being  obliged 
to  contribute  his  share  to  the  merriment. 
Doctor  Nair  (who  is  now  working  emigration 
for  the  "  buffalo  pastures  ")  gave  some  vivid 
stories  of  his  experience  during  the  war; 
while  Youngblood  was  obliged  to  open  his 
pack,  and,  in  his  modest  way,  told  hunting 
stories  that  would  cause  one  to  look  nerv- 


rollins'  ranch. 


299 


ously  toward  the  door  at  one  moment,  while 
the  next,  his  hearers  wished  for  day,  that 
they  also  might  try  the  fascination  of  the 
chase. 

But  the  best  of  friends  must  part,  and  the 
sun  rises  with  unpleasant  regularity;  so,  in 
the  course  of  time,  it  was  necessary  to  stop 
the  fun  and  give  some  attention  to  the  mor- 
row. Consequently,  after  a  few  more  pulls 
at  their  pipes,  the  company  turned  in,  and 
when  day  broke,  the  next  morning,  it  was  6  '  up 
and  away"  with  the  irrepressible  Young- 
blood,  who  turned  his  refreshed  horses 
toward  the  river  or  stream  Alfreo,  which  was 
about  eighty  miles  distant.  Upon  his  arrival, 
he  found  two  men  encamped,  and  remained 
with  them  several  days,  during  which  time 
his  deadly  rifle  was  brought  into  use,  and, 
as  a  result,  several  antelope  were  added  to 
his  store,  and  two  buffalo  paid  that  tribute 
which  their  race  seems  to  owe  him. 

On  the  whole,  however,  "the  game  was 
hardly  worth  the  candle,"  as  the  French 
king  puts  it,  and  after  waiting  at  this  point 


300 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


a  few  days  longer,  our  hunter  concluded  to 
run  home  for  repairs  and  ammunition;  and 
therefore  turned  his  horses'  heads  toward 
Coolidge,  disposing  of  his  load  at  good  prices 
at  Boston  and  Minneapolis,  and  reaching  his 
destination  in  good  order,  to  find  all  well, 
and  with  another  batch  of  stories  for  the 
youngsters,  who  will,  perhaps,  in  days  to 
come,  follow  his  example. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


NO  PAY,  NO  MEAT — ON  THE  TEAIL  AGAIN — 
WATER,  WATER  EVERYWHERE  ! 

The  growing  scarcity  of  buffalo  in  his 
immediate  neighborhood  prompted  Young- 
blood,  in  April,  1878,  to  plan  a  more 
extended  trip,  and,  when  all  was  ready,  he 
started,  with  one  of  his  boys,  for  a  point 
some  200  miles  south  of  Coolidge.  The 
main  object  of  their  journey  was  to  capture 
buffalo-calves,  but  they  prepared  for  any- 
thing from  the  monarch  of  the  plains  to  a 
Chicago  "bunko-steerer;"  but,  of  course, 
the  latter  were  hardly  to  be  expected.  On 
the  second  day  out,  a  couple  of  antelope 
were  discovered  feeding  a  short  distance 
from  the  road;  these  they  killed,  and  their 
carcasses  were  thrown  on  the  wagon,  which 
went  creaking  along  until  a  house  was 
reached,  some  ten  miles  further  on.  Upon 
hearing  the  noise  made  by  the  team,  the 

(301) 


302 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


owner  of  the  cabin  came  to  the  door.  In 
personal  appearance,  this  individual  much 
resembled  a  Georgia  "  Cracker,"  and  he 
looked  so  hungry  that  Youngblood  said : 

i '  Want  these  antelope  % " 

"  Yes,  stranger,  you  bet ! " 

"  You  can  buy  them  cheap." 

"  Buy  !  I  ain't  buying  till  I  sell  my  hoop- 
poles." 

"  Well,  can't  trade,  then;  bye,  bye  !  " 

And  away  creaked  the  wagon,  little  know- 
ing how  it  would  be  called  upon  to  groan 
later,  for  sand-hills  were  soon  reached,  and 
the  ten  miles  through  which  that  devoted 
vehicle  passed  would  have  tamed  the  proud 
spirit  of  the  most  arrogant  "Tally-Ho" 
coach  in  existence. 

In  the  sage-brush  which  dotted  these 
hills  were  innumerable  prairie-chickens — or 
rather  hens,  as  age  should  command  respect 
at  all  times — and  the  junior  Youngblood 
was  anxious  to  get  some  for  the  evening 
meal.  This  he  did,  but  as  the  birds  were  of 
the  "  vintage  of  '38,"  that  regard  for  antiq- 


isro  pay,  isro  meat.  303 

uities  which  is  part  of  the  make-up  of  the 
true  hunter  would  not  permit  them  to  be 
eaten.  They  were  tasted,  and  that  was  quite 
enough;  the  pork-barrel  contained  delicacies 
compared  to  them. 

Passing  through  "No  Man's  Land,"  our 
travelers  finally  reached  the  "Panhandle" 
of  Texas,  where  they  found  John  Rawlins' 
ranch,  on  the  banks  of  a  stream  called  Cold- 
water.  On  learning  of  the  object  of  their 
journey,  Rawlins  said  that  he  had  cows  for 
the  calves,  and  wanted  to  join  our  friends  in 
their  search.  This  was  quite  agreeable  to 
Youngblood;  consequently,  after  refilling 
the  water-kegs  (the  country  being  very  dry), 
the  reinforced  army  took  up  its  march  for 
the  diminutive  bison. 

After  two  days'  traveling,  a  section  of  the 
country  was  struck  which  was  as  devoid  of 
vegetation  as  though  a  fire  had  swept  over  it, 
and,  in  looking  for  a  grazing  spot  for  the 
live  stock,  they  finally  found  a  depression 
covered  with  grass,  and  which  had  evidently 
been  the  bed  of  a  small  lake,  and  just  the 


304 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


camping-ground  wanted.  After  congratulat- 
ing themselves  on  having  their  necessities  so 
easily  supplied,  supper  was  eaten,  the  horses 
and  mules  picketed,  and  the  human  part  of 
the  outfit  made  up  their  shake-downs  in  the 
body  of  the  wagon  for  a  comfortable  night, 
and  dreams  of  buffalo-calves  galore.  Bat, 
while  man  proposes,  others  get  their  work 
in;  and  about  10  o'clock  it  began  to  cloud 
up,  with  lightning  playing  across  the  heav- 
ens most  vividly.  Then  it  began  to  rain; 
first  came  "the  gentle  dew"  that  Shakes- 
peare speaks  of,  and  then  St.  S within  took 
his  hand  in  the  game,  and  how  it  did  hail ! 
This  picturesque  but  uncomfortable  mass 
nearly  filled  the  body  of  the  wagon,  and,  to 
add  to  the  discomfort  of  the  night,  it  sud- 
denly changed  to  rain,  making  a  mixture  to 
be  carefully  avoided. 

Nearly  chilled  to  death,  our  unfortunates 
waited  for  the  next  change,  fondly  hoping 
that  whatever  might  come  would  be  warm; 
when  Kawlins'  horse  began  to  snort,  plunge, 
and  kick  in  the  most  outrageous  manner. 


NO  PAY,  NO  MEAT. 


305 


Youngblood  was  anxious  to  learn  the  cause 
of  the  commotion,  and  putting  his  head 
between  the  flaps  of  the  wagon-cover,  saw  a 
strange  sight.  They  seemed  to  be  in  camp 
in  the  middle  of  a  lake;  the  water  was 
nearly  up  to  the  wagon-body,  and  still  ris- 
ing, while  Rawlins'  horse  was  almost  swim- 
ming ! 

There  was  no  time  to  lose,  and  without  a 
moment's  hesitation  Youngblood  jumped  into 
the  ice-cold  water  up  to  his  waist,  hitched  up 
the  team,  and  got  them  under  way. 

It  took  them  nearly  half  a  day  to  get  out 
of  their  delightful  camp,  and,  to  use  Young- 
blood's  own  wrords,  "it  was  a  trying  time 
for  us  poor  sinners.  I  don't  know  which  is 
the  worse,  and  I  have  experienced  both— 
too  much  water  or  too  little." 


20 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 


YOUNGBLOOD  AS  A  PISCATOR— O'BRIEN  THE 
HUSTLER. — YOUNGBLOOD,  JUNIOR,  WINS 
HIS  S  ^URS — A  MODERN  ANANIAS— OUT- 
WITTING THE  REDS. 

After  having  gotten  safely  out  of  their 
Slough  of  Despond,  our  friends  steered  their 
schooner  for  a  point  about  twenty  miles  dis- 
tant, where  a  new  town  had  been  laid  out 
only  a  few  weeks  before.  Upon  arriving  at 
their  destination,  they  found  a  house  to  be 
sure,  but  not  the  slightest  vestige  of  a  town, 
as  the  sole  building  was  occupied  by  Mr. 
Nick  Whitsee,  a  carpenter,  who  was  monarch 
of  all  he  surveyed,  and  did  the  honors  of  the 
one-storied  metropolis  in  a  very  hearty  man- 
ner. 

While  waiting  for  the  night  to  come,  and 
anticipating  the  satisfaction  one  feels  in 
striking  a  comfortable  place  to  sleep  after 
having  passed  through  severe  hardships, 

(307) 


308 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


Youngblood  and  his  friend  were  surprised 
at  the  arrival  of  two  more  unfortunates 
upon  just  such  an  errand  as  theirs.  It 
seems  that  they  also  had  been  caught  in  the 
storm,  being  encamped  on  a  small  branch 
near  the  dry  ( ? )  lake  which  our  hunters  had 
congratulated  themselves  upon  finding,  and 
when  the  down-pour  came,  away  went  tent, 
grub,  and,  in  short,  everything  that  could 
float,  and  although  they  chased  their  traps 
ten  miles  or  more  down-stream,  they  were 
rewarded  only  by  their  labor  for  their  pains. 

Their  misadventure  necessitated  a  change 
in  the  plans  of  our  hunters,  who  were  obliged 
to  put  back  to  Rawlins5  ranch  for  repairs 
and  supplies,  and  when  they  reached  his 
hospitable  abode,  life  again  seemed  worth 
living.  Youngblood' s  son  was  so  worked  up 
over  the  description  of  their  fun  (?)  that  he 
was  very  anxious  to  take  his  father's  place 
on  the  next  trip,  and  the  latter  was  only  too 
glad  to  send  a  substitute,  thinking  that  he 
could  put  in  his  time  to  good  advantage  with 
the  hook  and  line,  and  in  getting  the  rest 


YOUNGBLOOD  AS  A  PISCATOR.  309 

which  usually  accompanies  such  a  holiday. 
The  hunting  party  was  reinforced,  just  before 
starting,  by  a  Mr.  Keys,  who  ' '  could  stand 
anything,"  but  who  gave  up  in  disgust  after 
they  had  gone  about  eighty  miles,  leaving 
Rawlins  and  Youngblood,  junior,  to  continue 
the  search  for  calves,  but  with  no  immediate 
satisfactory  results. 

In  the  meantime,  our  hero  was  taking  fish 
in  great  numbers,  and,  consequently,  life 
easy.  The  location  of  his  fishing-ground 
was  on  the  divide  between  Farwell,  Texas, 
and  a  new  town  which  at  that  time  was  not 
old  enough  to  possess  a  name,  but  which 
has  since  then  undoubtedly  been  christened, 
and  by  this  time  must  be  thriving,  as  the 
location  is  a  good  one.  The  chief  citizen 
was  a  Mr.  O'Brien,  and  he  was  a  " hustler" 
from  head-waters.  He  didn't  have  time  to 
fish,  but  about  three  times  a  day  did  manage 
to  stop  u  booming"  long  enough  to  make 
Youngblood' s  string  look  as  though  it  had 
supplied  a  whole  regiment  of  famished  men. 
This  O'Brien  was  the  typical  Western  man 


310 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


of  enterprise.  If  you  couldn't  use  the  land 
for  farming  or  building  purposes,  his  assur- 
ance that  it  was  "good  to  eat  on  bread" 
secured  the  customer  and  closed  the  trade ! 

While  Youngblood  was  coaxing  three- 
pound  trout  from  their  hiding-places, 
O'Brien  was  on  the  jump,  preparing  for  the 
arrival  of  thirty-three  families  of  Dunkards 
that  were  on  their  way  to  this  point,  and,  of 
course,  he  "got  there  with  both  feet." 

The  place  seemed  to  be  quite  a  stamping- 
ground  for  the  followers  of  Izaak  Walton, 
and  one  old  gentleman  named  Murphy,  who 
had  stopped  for  a  few  minutes  to  look  on, 
remained  two  days  enjoying  the  amusement. 

While  the  father  was  having  fun  with  the 
finny  tribe,  the  son  had  struck  pay-dirt,  hav- 
ing run  across  a  herd  of  buffalo  with  which 
there  were  some  calves.  The  boy  had  much 
of  the  spirit  of  the  father  In  him,  and,  dash- 
ing into  the  bunch,  secured  one  calf  (which 
was  quite  young)  with  little  difficulty;  but 
one  frisky  young  bull  led  him  a  lively  race 
for  about  five  miles,  and  had  he  not  been 


YOUKGBLOOD  AS  A  PISOATOR.  311 


well  mounted,  lie  might  have  been  "  taken 
into  camp"  himself  instead  of  being  the 
captor,  for  the  moment  he  reached  over  from 
his  cayuse  and  caught  the  calf  by  the  tail, 
the  brute  set  up  the  most  unearthly  bellow, 
which  brought  Mrs.  Buffalo  down  upon 
them,  head  and  tail  up,  like  a  hog  in  a  corn- 
field. For  a  moment  it  looked  serious  for 
the  young  fellow,  as  it  is  not  a  pleasant  sen- 
sation to  feel  that  you  are  the  chief  attrac- 
tion for  an  infuriated  beast,  and  a  thousand 
pounds  of  live  buffalo-meat  was  coming  for 
him  for  all  there  was  in  the  game.  But  the 
boy  was  nervy,  and  did  not  for  a  moment 
think  of  dropping  his  prize;  so,  pulling  his 
revolver,  he  fired,  fortunately  breaking  the 
fore  leg  of  the  cow,  which  put  her  out  of  the 
race,  and,  subsequently,  her  hide  in  the 
wagon. 

These  two  calves  were  all  our  friends  suc- 
ceeded in  capturing,  for,  although  they 
hunted  far  and  wide,  no  more  were  seen,  and 
for  the  first  time  they  began  to  realize  that 
the   noble  buffalo  is  practically  extinct. 


312 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


Youngblood  says  that  there  are  but  compar- 
atively few  left  out  of  the  millions  that  have 
ranged  on  the  plains,  and  instead  of  seeing 
the  earth  black  with  these  mighty  brutes,  as 
he  has  seen  it,  a  bleached  skull  here  and 
there  is  about  all  that  is  left.  Civilization 
has  driven  them  the  way  of  the  red-skins, 
and  instead  of  hearing  the  thunder  of  their 
hoofs  on  the  prairie,  the  noise  of  the  reaper 
greets  the  ear,  and  the  sun  of  progress  dis- 
pels the  mist  of  romance  with  which  the 
magic  pen  of  Fenimore  Cooper  had  envel- 
oped the  West. 

Owing  to  this  scarcity,  Youngblood  found 
himself  compelled  to  fall  back  upon  his  old 
love — antelope.  They  had  been  having  alto- 
gether too  happy  a  time  of  it,  and  to  re- 
mind them  that  he  had  not  quite  forgotten 
them,  after  his  long  rest,  he  made  up  his 
mind  to  set  out  for  a  likely  place  which  he 
knew  of  near  the  head-waters  of  the  north 
fork  of  the  Cimarron  River,  and  about  thirty 
miles  south  of  the  beautiful  and  prosperous 
town  of  Lakin,  which  place  he  designed  to 


YOUJSTGBLOOD  AS  A  PISCAXOR.  313 

make  his  headquarters;  He  took  his  four 
boys  along  with  him,  as  this  was  to  be  merely 
a  business  trip.  They  had  four  wagons,  and 
hoped  to  make  a  couple  of  trips  out  of  Lakin 
before  the  weather  drove  the  antelope  to  the 
far  south. 

On  a  lovely  morning  they  started.  The 
weather — bright  and  glorious — seemed  to 
put  new  life  into  the  party  as  it  bowled  along 
over  the  smooth  prairie,  with  the  prospect  of 
plenty  of  game  ahead,  as,  from  all  reports, 
antelope  had  been  seen  in  large  quantities 
within  twenty  miles,  right  on  their  track. 
They  had  bought  two  new  horses  in  Lakin, 
both  of  which  proved  to  be  magnificent  ani- 
mals— one  of  them  especially,  which  they 
afterward  used  in  the  saddle,  and  found  to 
be  a  u  hummer."  The  boy  Jim  named  her 
"  Dame  Trot,"  and  claimed  her  as  his  own, 
which  Youngblood  generously  allowed,  as 
the  boy  loved  a  good  horse,  and  knew  one 
when  he  saw  him.  Just  before  they  pitched 
camp  for  the  night,  Youngblood  took  a  good 
look  round,  as  usual,  and  about  five  miles 


314 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


straight  ahead,  near  the  Cimarron  River,  he 
spied  a  solitary  buffalo  standing  on  a  high 
bluff.  This  was  too  much  for  him,  so  he 
took  the  freshest  horse  he  had,  and  taking 
advantage  of  a  dip  in  the  prairie  to  the  left, 
rode  within  400  yards  without  being  seen, 
dismounted,  and  at  300  yards  tried  a  shot  at 
the  buffalo's  hump,  which,  from  the  lay  of 
the  land,  was  about  all  he  could  see.  It  was 
a  lucky  shot,  and  the  bull  dropped,  startling 
the  rest  of  the  herd,  which  numbered  five, 
toward  the  river.  For  the  first  day  out,  this 
was  not  so  bad,  and  had  Youngblood  not  re- 
sisted the  temptation  to  further  test  his 
marksmanship,  might  have  been  better. 
When  he  got  back  to  camp  he  found  a  man 
there  who  was  out  for  game,  and  who  had  been 
attracted  by  the  shots  in  the  direction  of  the 
camp.  Youngblood  had  brought  the  hump 
of  the  buffalo  along,  and  was  fortunately  in 
a  position  to  play  the  host  to  advantage. 
While  supper  was  being  prepared,  two  of  the 
boys  went  after  the  meat  which  had  been  left 
behind.    The  stranger  was  a  great  talker, 


YOinSTGBLOOD  AS  A  PISCATOB.  315 

and  a  very  Mmrod  withal,  and  to  him  Young- 
blood  was  indebted  (?)  for  many  practical 
hints  and  much  information  in  regard  to 
hunting,  which,  to  a  tenderfoot,  would  have 
been  most  edifying.  He  mentioned  Mr. 
Youngblood's  name  as  that  of  a  great  hunter, 
and  told  how  many  buffalo  they  had  killed 
together;  which,  considering  the  fact  that 
our  friend  had  never  seen  this  modern 
Ananias  before,  was  not  without  its  point. 
However,  he  left  him  to  enjoy  his  narrative 
undisturbed.  He  said  that  he  had  that 
morning  passed  a  party  of  four  gentlemen, 
amateurs  in  the  profession,  who  were  footing 
it  to  Lakin,  having  had  their  horses  stolen  by 
a  party  of  Indians  from  the  south,  who  had 
ventured  to  defy  the  proprieties  and  run  the 
risk  of  trouble  with  the  authorities.  This 
was  unpleasant  news,  as  our  party  had  stock 
to  lose,  and  it  behooved  them  to  be  on  the 
watch,  as  it  had  happened  only  a  few  miles 
beyond  the  Cimarron  River. 

The  next  morning  Mr.  Stranger  went  his 
way,  and  Youngblood  and  his  party  pulled 


316 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


out  for  the  south.  They  crossed  the  river  in 
the  afternoon  of  that  day,  without  seeing 
any  game.  As  soon  as  they  had  passed  the 
river  and  reached  the  top  of  the  bluff  border- 
ing it,  they  could  see  a  light  smoke  ahead  of 
them,  invisible  to  an  unpracticed  eye,  which 
might  mark  the  camp  either  of  the  Indians  or 
of  the  disgruntled  amateurs,  though  they 
feared,  from  the  looks  of  the  smoke  (which 
was  evidently  from  a  fire  of  well-dried  wood), 
that  the  Indians  were  there,  and  that  their 
neighbors  were  unpleasant  ones. 

Next  morning,  an  hour  after  sunrise,  they 
were  on  the  road,  and  soon  reached  a  good 
camp.  Taking  his  son,  who  was  a  credit  to 
his  teacher,  Youngblood  rode  toward  a  well- 
wooded  bluff  marking  a  bend  in  the  river,  in 
search  of  game,  and  soon  sighted  a  large 
herd  of  antelope  making  for  them.  Con- 
cealing their  horses  as  best  they  could,  the 
hunters  laid  down,  facing  the  wind  and  the 
antelope,  which  kept  on  straight  toward 
their  hiding-place  at  such  speed  as  indicated 
that  they  had  scented  something.    On  they 


YOUNGBLOOD  AS  A  PISCATOR.  317 

came,  and  were  soon  within  thirty  yards, 
when  our  friends,  each  singling  out  his  shot, 
fired,  getting  two  at  the  first  volley.  At 
sound  of  the  shot,  the  herd  stood  stock  still, 
and  before  it  broke  away  to  the  left  they 
had  two  more,  and  three  more  fell  from  four 
flying  shots,  leaving  Youngblood  well  satis- 
fied, and  the  boy  delighted  at  the  good  work 
they  had  done.  As  agreed,  the  boys  from  the 
camp  were  soon  on  hand  with  a  team,  and 
the  executioners  went  on  ahead  after  more, 
but  all  day  without  success. 

That  night  they  were  startled  by  the  neigh- 
ing of  the  horses,  and  at  once  thinking  that 
Indians  might  be  around,  Youngblood  started 
up  to  satisfy  himself  that  the  stock  were 
all  right.  He  found  Dame  Trot,  but  could 
see  nothing  of  the  others,  and  gave  them  up 
for  lost.  The  Indians  were  evidently  hard 
cases,  and  poor  neighbors  to  have  around;  so 
sending  one  of  the  boys  out  next  morning  on 
their  trail  to  keep  them  in  touch,  Young- 
blood started  off  on  foot  for  the  nearest  town 
to  get  horses.  He  had  some  trouble  in  secur- 


318 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


ing  what  lie  wanted,  but  in  a  couple  of  days 
succeeded  in  getting  three  that  pleased  him. 
They  were  fine,  strong  animals,  that  had  not 
done  much  work.  After  warning  the  settlers 
to  be  on  the  lookout  for  the  Indians,  Young- 
blood  started  back  for  camp,  and  had  not 
gone  ten  miles  on  his  journey  before  he  met 
his  son,  who  had  ridden  out  to  meet  him 
with  the  news  that  he  had  succeeded  in 
recovering  all  the  horses,  and  getting  clear 
away  before  the  Indians  got  a  chance  at  him. 
It  was  lucky  that  Youngblood  had  brought 
out  two  old  hunters  with  him,  which  he  had 
done  as  a  measure  of  precaution,  thinking  it 
best  to  strengthen  the  party  as  much  as 
possible.  All  haste  was  made  back  to  camp, 
where  everything  was  found  quiet  and  un- 
disturbed, although  they  felt  sure  that  the 
Indians  must  be  still  sneaking  around. 

It  seems  that  Youngblood,  junior,  had  rid- 
den out  on  the  trail  of  the  Indians  after  leav- 
ing camp,  and  had  managed  to  keep  out  of 
their  sight  until  about  noon,  when  he  sighted 
their  camp-fire,  and  carefully  creeping  up  as- 


YOtnSTGBLOOD  AS  A  PISCATOR.  319 

near  as  he  could  with  safety,  within  range  of 
a  good  field-glass  with  which  he  had  supplied 
himself,  he  made  out  that  something  unusual 
was  going  on.  The  Indians  all  appeared  to 
be  asleep  under  the  shelter  of  their  tepees  of 
branches  of  trees  and  grasses,  for  the  day 
was  very  warm  for  the  season  of  the  year — 
all  except  one,  a  sentry,  who  sat  nodding  on 
his  bronco,  and  evidently  much  more  inter- 
ested in  a  familiar-looking  object  which  he 
held  in  his  hand,  and  appeared  to  use  as  a 
trumpet  at  frequent  intervals,  than  in  his 
duty.  It  was  hard  work  blowing  into  this 
instrument,  as  he  seemed  to  get  very  weary 
over  it,  and  finally  sliding  to  the  ground,  he 
appeared  to  have  got  through  with  his  sentry 
duty,  as  he  made  no  sign  thereafter. 

Our  young  hunter  suspected  that  the  object 
of  his  attentions  was  a  bottle,  and,  embold- 
ened by  appearances,  crept  up  closer  and 
closer  until  within  100  yards,  where  he  lay  at 
the  edge  of  his  cover  cogitating  over  the  situa- 
tion. The  fire-water  had  been  too  much  for 
the  "reds,"   who  lay  oblivious  to  every- 


320 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTEE. 


thing,  perhaps  dreaming  of  their  happy 
hunting-grounds — evidently,  from  the  num- 
ber of  the  slain  (in  bottles),  safe  from  all 
trouble  and  care  for  some  time  to  come. 
The  boy  made  up  his  mind  that  he  would 
risk  it,  feeling  certain  that  the  awakening 
would  not  be  yet,  and  try  to  secure  the 
horses,  which  were  picketed  close  by  the 
camp;  so  walking  boldly  up,  it  was  but  the 
work  of  a  moment  to  cut  the  tethers,  leap  on 
the  back  of  the  best  of  the  horses,  and  run 
for  it.  The  Indians  never  moved,  and  the 
victor  rode  into  camp  leading  the  spoils 
behind  him.  This  was  too  much  like  old 
times,  so  a  council  was  at  once  called,  at 
which  it  was  decided  to  send  the  two 
youngest  boys  back  to  Lakin,  and  keep  on 
the  hunt  without  them. 

Next  day,  with  the  help  of  the  two 
recruits,  our  party  got  ten  antelope,  and 
started  the  boys  off  with  one  wagon  and  a 
small  load,  and  with  Youngblood,  junior,  for 
an  escort  on  "Dame  Trot."  The  following 
afternoon  the  young  man  was  back,  having 


YOUNGBLOOD  AS  A  PISCATOR.  321 

seen  his  convoy  into  safety  without  accident 
or  anything  important  to  report.  The  Indians 
had  evidently  left  for  parts  unknown,  doubt- 
less alarmed  at  the  size  of  the  party  and 
Master  Youngblood's  way  of  doing  things; 
consequently  they  heard  no  more  of  them 
for  several  weeks,  though  they  kept  a  good 
lookout,  and  ran  no  risks  with  their  live 
stock. 

During  the  next  two  weeks  antelope  were 
so  plentiful  that  our  party  got  over  200  of 
them,  and  finding  sport  so  good,  made  a 
business  of  drying  the  meat  and  salting  down 
the  hides,  until  they  had  all  they  could 
carry,  when  the  party  turned  head  toward 
Lakin,  at  which  point  they  disposed  of  their 
spoils  to  good  advantage,  and  laid  oif  for  a 
few  days'  rest  which  they  Jiad  so  fully  earned. 


21 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

A  NEW  EDITION  OF  THE  ONE-HORSE  SHAY — 
A  MIGHTY  HUNT — A  NEEDLESS  SCARE — 
"VENGEANCE  IS  MINE,"  SAITH  THE  PIO- 
NEER— A  SCRIMMAGE  WITH  LO  VERMIN. 

A  life  of  idleness  seemed  wholly  unfitted 
for  Youngblood,  who,  after  remaining  a  few 
days  in  Lakin,  was  approached  by  a  couple 
of  men  from  Pennsylvania,  who  were  very 
anxious  to  have  him  secure  a  bunch  of  wild 
horses  for  them.  This  was  an  undertaking 
which  our  alert  friend  was  most  willing  to 
join  in;  so  he  started  on  a  tour  of  explora- 
tion, returning  with  the  information  that 
he  had  discovered  a  band  of  twenty-seven. 
The  gentlemen  from  the  Keystone  State  at 
once  engaged  him  to  bring  them  in,  and  our 
hunter  started — this  time  in  a  buggy,  for  a 
change.  This  luxurious  method  of  traveling, 
however,  was  not  kept  up  long;  for  the  first 
day  out,  and  while  feeding  his  team  (not 

(323) 


324 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


having  time  to  unharness),  a  veritable  whirl- 
wind struck  the  outfit,  hoisting  a  buffalo- 
robe  in  the  air  and  throwing  it  on  the  horses, 
evidently  much  to  their  disgust,  for  when 
they  were  through  kicking  there  was  not 
enough  of  the  buggy  left  to  even  carry  the 
monument  the  city  of  New  York  has  been 
so  long  erecting  to  the  memory  of  General 
Grant ! 

This  certainly  was  not  an  agreeable  thing 
to  have  occur;  but  Youngblood  was  out 
for  horses,  and  horses  he  proposed  getting; 
so  improvising  a  saddle  from  the  fateful  robe, 
he  went  on  his  way,  but  not  rejoicing. 

Now,  while  a  saddle  of  this  description 
is  better — a  little  better — than  the  upper 
stringer  of  a  rail-fence,  the  wildest  fancy  can 
not  make  it  a  Whitman;  so  Youngblood' s 
chase  of  fifteen  days  after  the  broncos  was 
a  trying  one  for  him;  but  he  finally  reached 
their  grazing-place. 

To  get  these  timid  animals  was  the  next 
thing  to  be  done,  and  all  of  our  hero's 
knowledge  of  their  habits  was  brought  into 


NEW  EDITION  OF  0NE-H0KSE  SHAY.  325 

play  to  bring  about  Ms  success.  The  leader 
of  the  band  was  a  magnificent  black  stallion 
with  a  perfectly  marked  star  of  white  in  his 
forehead,  and  for  three  days  he  proudly 
defied  his  would-be  captor.  He  was  finally 
"creased"  by  a  single  shot  from  Young- 
blood's  Winchester,  and  when  his  haughty 
spirit  had  been  broken  by  the  hunter,  he 
became  the  decoy  that  brought  his  harem 
and  family  into  captivity. 

It  seems  almost  incredible  that  one  human 
mind  could  accomplish  the  feat  of  capturing 
so  many  beasts  at  one  time;  but  this  Young- 
blood  did,  arriving  in  Lakin  with  the  entire 
twenty-seven,  and  the  would-be  owners 
gladly  handed  him  $280  for  the  bunch — 
making  his  three-weeks'  jaunt  quite  a  profit- 
able one. 

During  the  early  summer,  Youngblood 
made  numerous  excursions  out  of  Lakin, 
with  varying  results,  and  in  August  found 
himself  at  Wallace,  Kan.,  where  rumors 
reached  his  ears  that  buffalo  were  quite 
plenty  some  distance  to  the  northeast.  Even 


326 


A  MIGHTY  HOTTTEK. 


a  rumor  of  such  a  state  of  affairs  was  suffi- 
cient to  put  him  on  the  qui  vive;  so  he 
organized  a  party — five,  including  himself — 
and  determined  to  make  a  thorough  search 
for  the  game,  being  anxious  to  secure  their 
hides,  which  the  slow  but  sure  extinction  of 
the  animals  brought  into  good  demand. 

The  party  was  fully  equipped,  and  after 
journeying  for  about  150  miles  from  Wallace, 
meeting  with  only  the  usual  adventures  per- 
taining to  such  a  trip,  they  began  to  observe 
signs  of  the  game  they  were  after,  and  one 
day  struck  a  large  herd  grazing  near  a  forty- 
acre  corn-field  connected  with  a  lonely  ranch. 
Fire  was  immediately  opened  on  the  buffalo, 
and  then  the  fun  began.  The  startled  brutes 
made  for  the  corn-field  breaking  through 
fences  as  though  they  were  impediments  of 
straw,  with  the  hunters  in  full  pursuit,  the 
crack  of  their  rifles  resounding  on  every  side, 
and  the  pursuers  yelling  like  Comanches. 

Once  among  the  waving  corn,  the  shaggy 
animals  were  doomed,  their  heavy  bodies 
being  no  match,  in  the  soft  ground,  for  the 


NEW  EDITION  OF  ONE-HORSE  SHAY.  327 

light  and  wiry  broncos  ridden  by  our  hunt- 
ers, and  the  slaughter  was  immense,  as  when 
Winchesters  were  empty,  revolvers  were 
brought  into  use,  and  when  the  shooting 
ceased  the  corn-field  was  as  flat  as  though  an 
able-bodied  cyclope  had  camped  there,  much 
to  the  disgust  of  the  owner  of  the  ranch, 
who  saw  in  a  few  moments  the  work  of  his 
season  destroyed,  as  the  corn  was  still  in 
the  milk.  A  generous  supply  of  fresh  meat, 
however,  partially  appeased  him,  and  after 
stripping  the  victims  of  their  hides,  the 
hunters  started  toward  Prairie-dog  Creek, 
near  the  edge  of  the  settlement. 

When  the  party  drew  in  sight,  the  settlers 
became  much  alarmed,  and  our  friends  could 
see  men  running  from  the  different  cabins  to 
the  largest  one,  each  man  carrying  in  his 
hands  a  rifle,  which  flashed  no  pleasant  wel- 
come in  the  summer  sun.  They  soon  dis- 
covered that  the  new-comers  were  a  party  of 
friends,  and  were  overjoyed  at  the  sight  of 
white  men. 

The  cause  of  their  previous  actions  was 


328 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


soon  learned.  It  seems  that  a  band  of  red- 
skins had  been  in  the  neighborhood  the  day 
before,  and  had  killed  a  lad  of  twelve  whom 
they  met  some  little  way  from  the  settlement, 
leaving  his  scalped  and  mutilated  body  to 
the  tender  mercies  of  a  broiling  sun  and 
howling  coyotes.  This  information  caused 
our  party  to  reload  their  empty  shells,  with 
a  view  to  giving  the  red  devils  a  reception 
more  warm  than  cordial,  should  they  put  in 
an  appearance. 

After  these  preparations  were  made,  the 
hunters  took  the  trail  of  the  butchers,  and 
just  before  sundown  found  their  deserted 
camp,  the  cold  ashes  of  their  fires  showing 
that  they  had  long  since  moved  off.  As  an 
evidence  of  the  utter  worthlessness  of  this 
race,  and  to  show  their  total  lack  of  any  sense 
of  obligation,  our  hunter  found  these  noble 
red  men  had  left  behind  them  to  its  fate  a 
poor,  worn-out  horse,  whose  body  was  covered 
with  cruel  sores  received  in  their  service,  and 
now  that,  through  their  brutality,  he  was 
useless,  they  would  not  spend  a  rifle-ball  to 


NEW  EDITIOK  OF  ONE-HORSE  SHAY.  329 

put  him  out  of  his  misery,  leaving  him  to  be 
pulled  to  pieces  by  wolves  when  he  fell  from 
exhaustion,  while  they  saved  the  leaden  pel- 
let which  an  all-wise  (?)  Government  gratu- 
itously supplies  them,  to  use  it  against 
peaceable  settlers!  Surely,  the  Indian  ques- 
tion is  a  vexatious  one;  but  if  the  pioneers 
in  the  West  were  only  let  alone,  they  would 
settle  it  quickly.  A  rifle  bullet  is  the  only 
argument  that  appeals  to  these  dirty  out- 
casts, and  their  only  permanent  civilizer. 

The  suffering  horse  was  put  out  of  its 
misery,  and  our  friends,  leaving  one  of  their 
number  on  sentry  duty,  rolled  themselves  in 
their  blankets,  and,  with  the  starry  heavens 
for  ceiling,  found  that  sleep  which  only  tired 
men  obtain. 

Bright  and  early  next  morning  a  start  was 
made,  and,  after  going  about  ten  miles,  the 
sudden  rising  of  two  buzzards,  and  a  hurried 
scamper  of  wolves  from  a  clump  of  timber 
near,  caused  an  investigation;  and  a  horrible, 
but  at  the  same  time  satisfactory,  sight  met 
the  eyes  of  Youngblood  and  his  friends; 


330 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


for  in  the  timber,  and  badly  torn  by  wolves 
and  buzzards,  were  the  remains  of  three 
Indians,  the  stench  arising  from  their  decom- 
posing bodies  showing  that  they  must  have 
quit  stealing  and  murdering  about  two  weeks 
before,  and  the  holes  through  each  head — 
clean-cut  in  front  and  jagged  in  the  back — 
showed  that  there  was  one  white  man,  at 
least,  who  knew  his  business! 

Leaving  the  dead  carrion  to  its  living 
prototype,  our  party  moved  off,  and  continued 
through  the  day  to  see  signs  of  buffalo, 
which  had  undoubtedly  been  driven  off  by 
the  Indians,  the  evidences  of  whose  proximity 
were  plenty. 

Matters  began  to  look  ripe  for  a  "  scrap," 
and  great  caution  was  observed  in  camping 
that  night;  a  sharp  watch  was  kept,  but  no 
"reds  "  appeared,  and  one  by  one  our  party 
dropped  off  to  sleep,  with  their  loaded  Win- 
chesters beside  them. 

About  sunrise,  one  of  the  party  heard  a 
noise,  and,  shielding  his  eyes  with  his  hand 
from  the  rays  of  the  rising  sun,  saw  a  band 


NEW  EDITION  OF  ONE-HORSE  SHAY.  331 

of  so-called  braves,  with  their  paint  on, 
secreted  behind  a  bank,  near  the  edge  of  the 
timber.  As  he  was  about  to  raise  an  alarm, 
the  well-known  whiz  of  an  arrow  brought 
full  consciousness  to  Youngblood,  who 
awoke  just  in  time  to  see  an  arrow  strike  the 
other  hunter's  extended  hand,  pinning  it, 
cap  and  all,  to  his  skull! 

In  an  instant  all  hands  were  wide-awake, 
and  the  crack  of  rifles  on  one  hand,  and  sing- 
ing of  arrows  on  the  other,  showed  that  both 
sides  "  had  blood  in  the  eye."  But  although 
there  were  at  least  four  Indians  to  one  white, 
the  vermin  (whose  idea  of  a  fight  is  to  find  a 
man  with  his  back  toward  him)  weakened  at 
the  first  volley,  and  disappeared  in  the  tim- 
ber, taking  with  them  four  of  their  number 
who  seemed  badly  hurt. 

Owing  to  their  numbers,  and  not  knowing 
how  badly  his  own  party  was  injured, 
Youngblood  did  not  think  pursuit  advisable, 
and  turned  his  attention  to  his  friends.  The 
man  who  had  discovered  the  band  still  had  his 
hand  (the  left)  pinned  to  his  head,  but  dur- 


332 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


ing  the  scrimmage  had  nervily  worked  his 
gun  to  good  advantage  with  the  right,  and 
the  imprisoned  member  was  not  released 
until  Youngblood  pulled  out  the  arrow,  to  do 
which  no  small  amount  of  force  was  neces- 
sary. Fortunately,  the  arrow  was  about 
spent,  or  the  bow  sending  it  was  a  weak  one; 
otherwise  another  honest  man  would  have 
been  made  a  victim  of  Uncle  Sam's  Indian 
policy — or  the  lack  of  one.  Finding  the 
injury  comparatively  trifling,  Youngblood 
continued  his  investigation,  and  was  much 
alarmed  to  find  one  of  the  party  missing. 
No  one  had  seen  him  during  the  u  scrap," 
and  fear  was  felt  as  to  his  safety. 

It  was  only  after  a  repeated  shouting  of 
his  name,  that  a  brush-heap  a  few  yards 
from  camp  seemed  to  move,  and  presently  a 
voice,  as  low  as  that  which  conscience  is  sup- 
posed to  possess,  was  heard  saying:  "  Young- 
blood! Ho!  Youngblood,  did  you  get 'em  all? 
Leave  three  for  me  any  way;"  and  a  pallid 
face  appeared  in  the  center  of  the  brush. 
The  situation  was  too  ludicrous  to  admit  of 


NEW  EDITION  OF  ONE-HORSE  SHAY.  333 


any  respect  for  the  fear  that  belied  his 
words,  and  a  yell  of  laughter  greeted  the 
hero  when  he  emerged  from  his  hiding-place, 
where  he  went,  as  he  said,  for  the  purpose 
of  ambushing  the  ureds;"  but  as  he  had 
carefully  left  his  gun  behind,  the  assertion 
must  be  taken  cum  grano  salis. 

The  situation  looked  so  squally  that  our 
friends  remained  on  the  watch  all  day  and 
that  night;  but  the  Indians  not  appear- 
ing, the  party  moved  off  in  the  morning, 
seeing,  soon  after  their  start,  a  man  on  foot 
who  made  signals  of  distress  to  them.  They 
at  once  approached,  and  found  him  to  be 
an  old  friend  whose  camp  the  Indians  had 
descended  upon  the  day  before,  and  after  rob- 
bing him  of  all  they  could  take  with  them, 
piled  the  balance  of  his  goods  upon  his  only 
wagon,  applied  the  torch,  and  fire  soon 
aided  them  in  destroying  everything  that  he 
possessed,  leaving  200  fine  buffalo-skins  to 
rot.  Not  content  with  this,  the  devils  tied 
him  to  a  tree,  placing  meat  and  water  just 
out  of  his  reach,  and  left  him  in  that  position, 


334 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


to  die  a  death  of  indescribable  horror.  He 
finally  broke  the  thongs  that  bound  him,  and 
reached  our  party  more  dead  than  alive,  and 
as  perfect  a  picture  of  misery  as  one  can  meet. 

As  the  loads  were  completed,  and  ammu- 
nition getting  low,  Youngblood  determined 
to  start  for  Wallace;  so,  taking  their  new- 
found companion,  they  proceeded  on  their 
way,  meeting,  at  Beaver  River,  six  men  who 
had  been  outlawed  for  high  crimes.  These 
fellows  wished  our  friends  to  join  their  party 
in  a  hunt,  but  of  course  they  declined  doing 
so.  The  outlaws  were  very  hospitable,  and 
begged  so  hard  that  Youngblood  finally 
promised  not  to  tell  the  authorities  of  their 
whereabouts,  and  again  moved  toward  Wal- 
lace, reaching  there  in  the  midst  of  great 
excitement  regarding  Indians,  who  were  sup- 
posed to  have  captured  our  friends,  as  they 
had  been  out  forty-five  days.  But  Young- 
blood laughed,  and  said  he  could  stand  the 
pressure  as  long  as  the  red  cusses.  Selling 
his  load  of  skins,  he  again  took  up  the  pipe 
of  peace,  which  he  lighted  for  a  long  smoke. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 


GARDEN  CITY — SEVERAL  SUCCESSFUL  HUNTS 
— HEAVY  SNOW — A  BLINDED  BULL. 

For  some  time  after  the  events  recorded  in 
the  last  chapter,  Youngblood  did  but  little 
hunting,  feeling  that  he  deserved  a  good 
rest,  but  on  several  occasions  piloted  people 
from  the  East  on  hunts  for  buffalo,  much  to 
their  enjoyment,  for  many  had  never  seen 
such  big  game,  owing  to  the  inability  of  their 
guides  to  find  it;  and  the  exclamations  of 
surprise  and  delight,  as  animal  after  animal 
fell  at  Youngblood' s  fire,  were  the  source  of 
considerable  entertainment  to  him. 

Among  other  places  visited  was  Garden 
City,  founded  by  two  old  buffalo-hunting 
friends  of  Youngblood,  who  stuck  by  it 
through  thick  and  thin,  and  finally  have  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  in  it  one  of  the  most 
thriving  of  the  many  like  places  that  are 

(335) 


336 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


growing  up  in  the  heart  of  a  region  where,  a 
few  years  before,  Youngblood  had  seen  buf- 
falo by  the  thousand,  roaming  over  the  roll- 
ing and  flower-dotted  prairie. 

While  at  Wallace,  a  surveying  party, 
bound  for  the  "  Panhandle  "  of  Texas,  came 
along,  and  their  implements  were  a  source  of 
much  curiosity  to  the  settlers,  who  could  not 
understand  what  the  outfit  meant.  Young- 
blood,  however,  was  too  sharp  to  be  fooled, 
and  finally  discovered,  from  the  drift  of  their 
questions  regarding  the  lay  of  the  land,  that 
they  were  out  for  the  purpose  of  laying  out 
an  irrigating  ditch,  and,  to  aid  them,  our 
hero  went  to  many  localities  with  them. 
Among  other  points,  Grenada,  Col.,  was 
visited,  and  the  party  awakened  much 
interest,  but  no  one  knew  the  truth,  Young- 
blood  having  promised  to  keep  silent  for 
thirty  days. 

One  night  the  party  was  nearly  drowned 
out  of  a  dug-out;  and  the  wit  of  the  company 
said:  ' 'Boys,  let's  go  home.  If  this  is  a 
sample  of  the  climate,  we  had  better  plant 


GARDEN  CITY. 


337 


sponges  than  put  our  money  into  a  ditch;" 
but  as  this  rain-fall  was  most  extraordinary, 
the  surveyors  were  satisfied. 

Youngblood  kept  the  party  in  wonder, 
meat,  and  high  spirits  by  his  great  marks- 
manship and  good  nature — one  day  knock- 
ing over  a  wolf  that  had  the  audacity  to 
attempt  the  carrying  off  of  an  antelope  from 
under  their  very  noses,  which  our  hunter  had 
killed  for  supper. 

Having  taken  this  party  over  the  desired 
route,  and  the  scheme  proving  an  undoubted 
success,  Youngblood  again  started  after  buf- 
falo, which  were  in  great  demand,  and  at  one 
time,  in  his  search  for  them,  passed  through  a 
country  in  which  for  fifty  miles  there  was 
not  a  drop  of  water  except  that  which  he 
carried  in  his  own  wagon.  This  necessitated 
his  letting  many  good  opportunities  for  buf- 
falo escape  him,  as  at  such  times  water  is 
more  valuable  than  even  food,  as  all  know 
who  have  really  felt  the  pangs  of  thirst. 
Finally  a  ranch  was  reached,  and  in  reply  to 
Youngblood' s  question  as  to  whether  there 

22 

\ 


338 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


were  any  buffalo  in  the  neighborhood,  the 
only  occupant  of  the  cabin  tried  to  dissuade 
him  from  pursuing  his  journey;  but  when 
our  friend  starts  for  anything,  he  does  not 
quit  until  he  attains  his  object.  When  Mr. 
Ranchman  tumbled  to  this  fact,  he  admitted 
there  might  be  some,  which  proved  to  be  the 
case,  for  the  next  day  Youngblood  came 
upon  a  herd  of  about  600,  out  of  which  he 
got  several,  finishing  his  load  in  a  few  days; 
and  on  arriving  at  Coolidge  he  was  gladly 
received,  not  only  for  himself,  but  for  his 
load  as  well,  as  it  was  the  first  buffalo-meat 
seen  in  a  long  time — less  skillful  hunters  not 
being  able  to  get  any. 

It  was  now  October,  and,  after  a  few  days' 
rest,  Youngblood  decided  to  make  another 
trip  to  the  buffalo  herd,  and  visit  the  taci- 
turn ranchman  as  well.  Upon  arriving  at 
his  cabin,  the  latter  was  very  anxious  to 
make  a  trip.  Taking  him  along,  a  herd 
of  fifty  was  soon  spied,  and,  by  careful 
maneuvering  on  the  part  of  Youngblood,  four 
were  secured,  greatly  to  the  wonder  of  the 


GARDEN  CITY. 


339 


inexperienced  hunter,  who  was  so  much 
excited  over  this  (to  Youngblood)  common 
incident,  that  he  couldn't  help  dress  the 
slain,  and  probably  has  not  wholly  recovered 
up  to  this  day. 

A  few  more  buffalo  and  several  antelope 
made  up  the  load,  which  was  immediately 
gobbled  up  by  the  hungry  inhabitants  of 
Coolidge,  who  cried  for  "more"  as  lustily 
as  Oliver  Twist  ever  did. 

To  supply  their  demand,  another  start  was 
soon  made,  Youngblood  taking  one  of  his 
sons  with  him  this  trip.  The  second  day  out, 
having  met  with  no  buffalo,  the  younger 
hunter  became  discouraged,  and  wanted  to 
remain  at  Cimarron  River  for  antelope.  This 
he  did,  but  Youngblood  pushed  on  about 
twenty  miles,  and  soon  discovered,  with  the 
aid  of  his  field-glass,  two  buffalo-cows,  which 
he  determined  to  have;  but  as  the  ground 
was  a  dead  level,  some  sly  crawling  was  nec- 
essary to  the  fulfillment  of  his  desires.  By 
this  time  the  reader  knows  our  old  friend 
well  enough  to  feel  certain  that  those  two 


340 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


cows  were  in  the  wagon  very  shortly;  and  so 
they  were. 

When  watering  his  stock  that  night,  just 
before  supper,  wolves  showed  up  in  large 
numbers,  and  the  poison-box  was  again 
brought  into  use,  and  in  the  morning  six 
large  gray  bodies  that  had  once  been  wolves 
were  lying  within  a  few  rods  of  camp. 
Youngblood  took  off  their  pelts,  and  sitting 
down  for  a  little  rest,  soon  discovered  five 
large  buffalo  coming  for  water.  When 
they  got  in  range  he  fired  and  wounded  two. 
But  they  started  off  in  different  directions, 
and  he  was  bound  to  have  at  least  one. 
Quick  work  was  necessary,  as  the  prairie  was 
on  fire  about  six  miles  away,  and  coming 
directly  toward  him.  Another  shot  soon 
dropped  one  of  the  bulls,  and  if  ever  the  hide 
came  off  a  buffalo's  back  in  quick  time,  it 
was  that  particular  skin,  and  tracks  were 
made  to  a  point  near  the  lake,  where  the 
grass  was  so  short  that  the  fire  would  not 
reach  the  spot. 

There,  Youngblood  watched  the  flight  of 


GARDEN  CITY. 


341 


the  animals  driven  out  by  the  fire,  as  they 
swept  past;  but  the  sight  was  not  an  un- 
usual one  for  him,  so  he  turned  in  and  slept 
the  sleep  of  the  healthy  in  body  and  mind, 
awaking  early  in  the  morning  to  find  one  of 
his  mules  missing,  and,  as  luck  would  have  it, 
the  remaining  one  was  a  "bucker"  of  the 
worst  sort;  but  he  gave  up  his  attempt  to 
worry  Youngblood  off  his  back  when  he 
finally  discovered  that  such  a  thing  was  an 
impossibility,  notwithstanding  his  " bucks" 
and  jumps,  and  went  quietly  along  until  the 
younger  hunter  was  met,  with  whom  our  old 
friend  returned  once  more  to  Coolidge. 

Many  such  hunts  were  indulged  in  during 
the  next  few  weeks,  some  being  in  snow- 
storms so  dense  that  an  object  was  hardly 
visible  at  the  shortest  distance.  On  one 
occasion,  when  about  sixty-five  miles  out, 
the  snow-fall  was  astonishing,  covering  the 
ground  to  a  depth  of  from  eight  inches  to 
three  feet;  and  while  Youngblood  and  his 
son  were  making  the  best  time  they  could 
for  a  point  of  safety,  the  younger  man  dis- 


342 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


covered  a  single  buffalo-bull,  so  covered  with 
snow  that  he  looked  more  like  a  pile  of  wool 
than  an  animated  object.  Youngblood,  of 
course,  must  have  him,  even  if  he  froze  to 
death  in  the  attempt,  and  finally  threw  his 
skin  in  the  wagon,  although  the  cold  was  so 
intense  as  to  freeze  it  while  it  was  being 
taken  off.  No  wonder  the  West  is  a  grand 
country,  when  men  of  this  nerve  abound! 

Now  and  then  would  come  a  day  in  which 
a  buffalo  or  so  could  be  added  to  the  load, 
which  was  finally  completed,  and  "home 
again!"  was  the  word.  The  cold  continued 
intense,  with  heavy  falls  of  snow  almost 
daily,  making  the  journey  dangerous  as  well 
as  difficult.  Sometimes  a  drift  would  be 
struck  that  necessitated  hitching  the  horses 
to  the  rear  axle-tree  to  release  the  wagon, 
and  one  day  the  wheels  stuck  so  firmly  in  a 
hole  that  two  days  were  spent  in  digging  them 
out.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  what  hardships 
our  two  friends  were  called  upon  to  meet  and 
conquer.  One  of  their  most  valuable  horses 
fell  on  the  ice  one  day,  breaking  his  leg,  and 


GAEDEIST  CITY. 


343 


nothing  but  a  shot  from  Youngblood's 
revolver  put  an  end  to  its  suffering.  One  of 
the  wagons  must  now  be  abandoned.  So, 
transferring  the  most  valuable  part  of  the  load 
to  the  other  vehicle,  and  making  a  "  spike 
team,"  they  pushed  their  weary  beasts  with 
all  the  vigor  possible  toward  Coolidge. 
Reaching  Sisson's  ranch,  the  welcome  he 
offered  was  a  veritable  Godsend,  and  around 
his  blazing  fire  they  were  told  that  they  had 
been  given  up  for  lost,  as  many  lives  had 
been  lost  in  the  terrible  weather.  This  gen- 
tleman's  hospitality  was  fully  appreciated; 
and  after  a  night's  rest,  and  with  a  present 
of  a  generous  quantity  of  fresh  meat,  our 
friends  again  started  on  their  weary  journey 
home,  crossing  the  Arkansas  River  on  the  ice, 
and  reaching  Coolidge,  to  find  that  the  local 
paper  had  published  an  article  to  the  effect 
that  they  had  met  death  on  the  plains. 
While  Youngblood  has  slept  warm  in  snow 
a  foot  deep,  it  is  too  dangerous  a  practice  to 
be  indulged  in,  for  death  very  often  follows; 
and  a  couple  of  blankets  in  front  of  a  blaz- 


344 


A  MIGHTY  HUjSTTEE. 


ing  fire,  in  a  comfortable  house,  is  much  to  be 
preferred  to  the  former  manner  of  passing 
the  night,  all  romances  to  the  contrary  not- 
withstanding. 

About  this  time,  so  many  investors  wanted 
to  see  the  country,  that  Youngblood  made 
rather  a  business  of  acting  as  guide,  in  which 
he  was  engaged,  with  a  friend  named  M.  M. 
James,  for  about  eight  months;  but  his 
4  £  hankering ' '  for  buffalo  was  too  strong  to 
be  set  aside,  so  he,  with  a  man  named  W. 
Manghend,  started  to  look  some  up.  On  their 
first  trip  they  ran  across  a  herd  of  nearly 
200,  out  of  which  Youngblood  alone  got 
five,  his  "  side  partner"  being  too  much  sur- 
prised at  the  sight  of  the  herd  to  do  much 
more  than  stare  at  them.  These,  with  a  few 
antelope,  were  about  all  they  wanted  for  that 
hunt,  and  they  therefore  started  for  Cool- 
idge  by  way  of  Butte  City;  but  the  wolves 
annoyed  them  so  during  their  first  night  that 
they  were  again  obliged  to  have  recourse  to 
the  poison-box,  with  the  usual  result. 

When  Youngblood  reached  Butte,  the 


GARDEN  CITY. 


345 


town — made  up  of  eastern  men,  chiefly,  who 
had  never  seen  a  buffalo — turned  out  en 
masse,  and  the  meat  went  like  hot  cakes. 
Many  of  the  settlers  at  once  started  out  on  a 
little  hunt  of  their  own,  determined  to  "do 
the  old  man  up  "  by  getting  a  big  bull,  freez- 
ing him,  and  standing  him  erect  in  the 
wagon,  to  show  that  Youngblood  was  not 
the  only  hunter  in  the  section.  But  these 
enterprising  individuals  came  back,  after 
being  gone  five  days,  with  their  tails — so  to 
speak — "between  their  legs,"  and  it  didn't 
seem  as  though  much  exertion  was  required 
to  lift  Mr.  Buffalo  into  the  wagon,  as  it 
turned  out  to  be  a  jack-rabbit,  and  a  one- 
eared  one  at  that.  The  rest  of  the  game 
consisted  of  a  wall-eyed  prairie-dog,  killed 
probably  with  a  stick;  but  they  got  so  hun- 
gry for  fresh  meat  that  they  had  to  eat  him! 
After  this  failure  they  ceased  attempting  to 
take  Youngblood5  s  well-earned  laurels  from 
him. 

Early  in  December,  the  people  of  Coolidge 
urged  Youngblood  to  go  and  get  them  some 


346 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


buffalo-meat  for  Christmas  dinner;  and, 
although  the  weather  was  cold  and  the  days 
short,  he  was  willing  to  inconvenience  him- 
self to  accommodate  them,  and  started  out, 
returning  with  a  good  load  on  Christmas  eve, 
amid  much  rejoicing. 

A  very  singular  incident  occurred  while  he 
was  out  this  time,  which  is  worth  relating. 
One  day  he  struck  a  herd,  and,  after  getting 
as  close  to  them  as  he  could,  fired,  causing 
one  bull  to  stumble,  but  who  immediately 
started  off,  but  so  slowly  as  to  show  that  he 
was  considerably  hurt.  Youngblood  knew 
that  he  was  all  right,  and  so  gave  his  atten- 
tion to  the  others,  killing  one  at  the  first  fire, 
and  then  knocking  another  down,  who  im- 
mediately recovered  his  feet  and  charged, 
with  " blood  in  his  eye;"  but  our  hunter 
didn't  scare  worth  a  cent,  and,  being  well 
armed,  soon  put  an  end  to  the  excited  beast. 
In  the  meantime,  the  wounded  bull  had 
turned,  and  was  stumbling  along  toward  our 
friend,  who  could  not  imagine  what  made 
him  use  so  peculiar  a  gait.    Another  shot 


GAEDEK  CITY. 


347 


stopped  him  altogether,  and  Youngblood 
found,  upon  examination,  that  the  first  bul- 
let had  put  out  both  his  eyes. 

But,  as  has  been  said,  Coolidge  was 
reached  in  good  time  for  Christmas,  the  load 
being  nearly  5,000  pounds  of  buffalo,  sev- 
eral antelope,  and  twenty  wolves ;  but  the 
good  people  came  near  going  hungry,  as, 
just  as  he  reached  Butte  City,  Youngblood 
took  a  severe  chill,  owing  to  his  hard  work, 
and  would  not  have  eaten  his  Christmas 
dinner  at  Coolidge — or,  perhaps,  anywhere — 
had  not  Doctor  Rickenbaugh,  of  Butte,  used 
every  effort,  and  finally  brought  him  out  of 
danger. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

DREAMS  GO  BY  CONTRARY — GAME  PLENTIFUL 
— PRAIRIES  ON  FIRE — A  DUDE  HUNTER. 

After  the  holidays,  Youngblood's  sons 
were  very  anxious  to  have  him  take  them 
for  a  little  run  through  the  "  Panhandle," 
and,  acceding  to  their  request,  he  took  two, 
and  the  party  started,  reaching  there  after 
an  uneventful  journey  of  four  days.  They 
immediately  began  a  search  for  buffalo,  but 
it  certainly  looked  as  if  the  animals  had  left 
that  part  of  the  country,  as  it  was  thirteen 
days  before  they  saw  a  head.  There  were 
about  thirty  in  the  herd,  and,  after  all  sorts 
of  maneuvers,  Youngblood  finally  got  within 
range,  and  dropped  three,  the  remainder 
going  off  as  though  they  had  heard  the  crack 
of  Youngblood's  rifle  before,  and  knew  what 
it  meant. 

After  dressing  the  fallen,  our  party  made 
after  the  runaways,  but,  although  they  fol- 

(349) 


350 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


lowed  all  day,  did  not  see  a  hoof.  Leaving 
their  load  at  Cimarron  River,  our  party 
started  south  again,  and  drove  several  days 
without  falling  in  with  any  buffalo,  although 
antelope  were  thicker  than  fleas  on  a  dog's 
back.  This  amused  the  boys,  but  did  not  sat- 
isfy Youngblood,  who  was  after  larger  game. 

Camping  that  night  on  one  of  the  tribu- 
taries of  the  Beaver  River,  one  of  the  boys 
dreamed  that  buffalo  were  all  driven  from 
the  country,  and  was  greatly  discouraged  in 
the  morning,  feeling  certain  that  his  dream 
must  be  true,  and  that  an  empty  wagon 
home  would  be  the  result,  and  could  hardly 
believe  his  eyes  when  he  saw,  on  a  hill  about 
a  mile  off,  a  herd  of  about  fifty.  A  sharp 
chase  resulted  in  the  bagging  of  three>  and 
the  pursuit  was  continued  after  they  had 
been  dressed;  but  no  more  fell  that  day,  and 
as  it  was  very  cold,  and  looked  like  snow, 
they  looked  about  for  a  suitable  place  for 
camp. 

While  searching  for  a  good  spot,  Young- 
blood,  greatly  to  his  surprise,  ran  across  an 


DREAMS  GO  BY  CONTRARY.  351 

old  partner  of  his,  named  Lee  Howard,  of 
whom  mention  has  been  made  before.  This 
was  a  pleasant  episode,  as  Howard  is  a  fine 
fellow  and  a  good  hunter,  and,  if  he  so 
desired,  could  tell  some  interesting  stories  of 
his  experience. 

After  spending  a  couple  of  days  talking 
over  old  times  with  Howard,  and  taking  ad- 
vantage of  several  stray  buffalo  to  increase  the 
load,  our  party  took  up  the  line  of  march, 
passing  through  Boston,  which  had  grown  to 
be  a  lively  town  of  great  promise,  and  finally 
struck  a  spot  that  looked  like  buffalo;  but 
it  was  four  days  before  any  turned  up, 
and  then  it  was  only  a  single  cow  that  was 
discovered  lying  down  in  the  grass,  and  who 
saw  the  hunters  as  soon  as  they  caught 
sight  of  her,  and  started  off  down  a  ravine  at 
a  lively  gait.  But  Youngblood  wanted  her, 
and,  leaving  his  sons  in  chafge  of  the  team, 
ran  on  foot  for  a  cut  about  two  miles  off,  to 
intercept  the  old  lady.  When  he  reached 
that  point,  he  found,  as  had  been  expected, 
the  cow  grazing  as  quietly  as  though  Young- 


352 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


blood  was  a  thousand  miles  off  instead  of 
fifty  yards,  and  when  she  realized  her  posi- 
tion, she  only  had  time  to  select  a  soft  spot 
to  fall  on,  for  down  she  dropped,  and  again 
Youngblood  was  master  of  the  situation. 

The  wagon  coming  up  shortly  after,  the 
cow  was  dressed  and  loaded,  and  our  friends 
moved  off  to  the  left,  soon  discovering  a 
large  herd  of  Youngblood' s  pets,  and  plans 
were  immediately  laid  to  make  a  big  haul. 
As  our  hunters  were  about  to  move  on  the 
herd,  a  band  of  wild  horses  galloped  up, 
stampeding  the  buffalo,  so  that  Youngblood 
and  his  party  could  get  nothing  but  long, 
flying  shots,  but  succeeded  in  bagging  one 
elegant  bull,  notwithstanding. 

Somewhat  disappointed,  but  still  hopeful, 
our  friends  proceeded  on  their  journey,  when 
their  attention  was  attracted  by  a  dark,  mov- 
ing mass  on  the  horizon.  As  the  land  was 
perfectly  level,  the  experienced  eye  of 
Youngblood  soon  discovered  that  a  large 
herd  of  buffalo  was  rapidly  .  approaching 
directly  in  their  path.  Getting  the  wagon  and 


DREAMS  GO  BY  CONTRARY.  353 

horses  out  of  sight,  Youngblood  told  the 
boys  to  stand  ready,  and  when  the  big  beasts 
passed,  shortly  after,  about  fifty  shots  were 
fired,  and  six  fine  animals  concluded  to  go 
no  further,  while  several  others  appeared  to 
have  felt  the  bullets. 

The  stock  having  had  nothing  to  drink  all 
day,  and  the  nearest  water  being  sixteen  miles 
away,  it  was  necessary  to  knock  off  hunting 
for  the  afternoon.  The  cause  of  the  rush 
made  by  the  buffalo  was  soon  discovered 
to  be  a  prairie-fire,  and  a  lively  one  at  that, 
making  the  thirsty  and  tired  horses  work 
hard  to  keep  ahead  of  it;  but  they  succeeded 
in  doing  so,  and  reached  the  much-desired 
stream,  almost  wholly  exhausted,  about  2 
o'  clock  in  the  morning.  Never  did  confirmed 
toper  more  need  or  enjoy  a  drink  than  did 
Youngblood' s  faithful  horses,  and  to  say 
that  they  were  carefully  taken  care  of  is  a 
waste  of  words,  for  our  old  hunter  knows  too 
well  the  value  of  good  horses  to  neglect  them 
in  the  slightest  degree. 

Laying  off  the  next  day  to  rest,  the  follow- 

23 


354 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


ing  morning  they  started  bright  and  early, 
and  reached  Boston  with  their  heavy  load  in 
the  afternoon.  Many  strangers  were  there, 
among  them  being  one  who  had  heard  of 
Youngblood's  prowess  in  hunting,  and  who 
said  that  he  never  had  and  never  would  have 
believed  his  stories  to  be  true,  had  he  not 
seen  the  great  load  hauled  in  that  day. 

Our  hero  was  approached  by  many  stran- 
gers with  requests  for  stories  of  his  advent- 
ures, and  he  modestly  and  generously  obliged 
them,  staying  up  until  late  into  the  night — 
or  rather  early  in  the  morning — before  they 
would  let  him  get  the  rest  he  had  worked  for, 
earned,  and  wanted  to  enjoy. 

Disposing  of  much  of  the  meat  in  Boston, 
but  keeping  plenty  for  his  friends  in  Butte, 
who  depended  upon  him,  Youngblood  started 
for  the  latter  point  the  next  day,  where  he 
was  enthusiastically  received.  Here  he  ran 
across  a  young  Englishman,  named  George 
A.  Flett,  of  the  British  lager-beer  trust,  of 
Liverpool,  who  was  a  typical  dude  hunter 
—leather  gaiters,  single  eye-glass,  and  all. 


DREAMS  GO  BY  CONTRARY.  355 

This  gentleman  had  all  sorts  of  hammerless 
guns,  patent  fishing-tackle,  and  all,  and  was 
going  to  astonish  the  natives  with  his  prowess 
by  field  and  flood.  While  the  boys  were  un- 
loading the  wagon,  he  looked  on  in  wonder, 
and  some  of  his  remarks  were  too  good  to 
be  lost. 

Jim  had  just  thrown  out  a  big  jack-rabbit 
he  had  killed  with  a  revolver,  when  Mr. 
Flett  remarked  to  his  friend:  uHi  say, 
'Arry,  old  boy,  what  a  bloody  big  'are  hit 
his." 

uHare,  nothing,"  said  Youngblood,  tak- 
ing in  Mr.  Englishman  at  a  glance.  ' '  That' s  a 
prairie-mole,  and  a  small  one,  too;  ain't  it, 
Jimmy? " 

" That's  what!  "  remarked  Jimmy,  with  a 
grin,  helping  to  throw  out  a  buffalo,  which, 
when  Mr.  Flett  saw  it,  caused  him  to  remark: 
"Hi  didn't  know  you  'ad  Hangus  cattle 
'bout  'ere.  But  Hi  say,  'Arry,  what  long 
'air 'e 'as  hon'is'ead!"  and  other  ejacula- 
tions of  a  like  order. 

Our  readers  can  rest  assured  that  Young- 


356 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


blood  didn't  spend  much  time  over  this  typ~ 
ical  English  hunter  (and  murderer  as  well); 
but  we  can  feel  certain  that  he  would  have 
enjoyed  having  him  along  for  one  trip  any 
way. 

After  having  supplied  the  wants  of  Butte, 
our  party  proceeded  to  Coolidge,  and  turned 
out  the  horses,  as  a  reward  for  their  good 
work  in  time  of  need. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 


conclusion. 

Our  narrative  is  finished,  and  there  remains 
to  be  said  but  a  few  words  to  those  whose 
kindly  patience  has  followed  our  hero 
through  these  pages,  necessarily  incomplete 
and  imperfect,  as  a  man  whose  life  has  been 
such  a  busy  and  well-filled  one  has  but  little 
time  to  make  accurate  notes  of  all  that 
occurred. 

There  is  no  apology  to  be  offered  or  any 
explanation  to  be  made  for  presenting  this 
volume  to  the  public,  except  that  it  was 
written  at  the  request  of  many  of  Mr. 
Youngblood' s  friends,  who,  knowing  of  his 
life  in  the  wild  West,  were  anxious  to  have 
his  adventures  written  and  published  exactly 
as  they  had  happened. 

There  has  been  no  attempt  made  at  fanci- 
ful descriptions  of  imaginary  adventures  or 

(357) 


358 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTEE. 


a  flowery  style  of  narration,  but  it  has  been 
the  intention  to  state  only  facts,  and  these  in 
the  briefest  possible  manner  practicable;  and 
if  the  reader  does  not  consider  this  book  suf- 
ficiently exciting  or  romantic,  he  must  re- 
member that  it  is  not  a  dime  novel,  nor  the 
life  of  a  desperado,  highway -robber,  or  mur- 
derer, but,  as  far  as  it  goes,  the  true  his- 
tory of  the  life  and  adventures  of  an  old 
hunter,  a  man  of  pure  life  and  convictions, 
who  at  least  has  always  tried  to  do  his  duty 
as  he  understood  it,  and  who  is  devotedly 
attached  to  the  wild  prairie  and  woodland 
as  God  made  them. 


THE  END. 


COOLIDGE,  KANSAS. 

Coolidge,  the  home  of  "A  Mighty  Hunter"  has 
been  referred  to  so  many  times  in  the  preceding 
narrative,  that  perhaps  some  readers  may  have  the 
curiosity,  and  others  the  patience,  to  read  a  few 
lines  concerning  this  young  City,  for.  Coolidge  is 
now  a  full-fledged  City,  the  metropolis  of  Hamil- 
ton County  and  of  Western  Kansas.  Although 
only  a  few  years  ago  it  was  but  a  "  trading-post " 
called  Sargent,  made  up  of  an  old  sod  fort  and  a 
flag  station  when  the  Santa  Fe  first  went  through, 
it  now  has  about  1,500  bees,  with  the  drones  and 
moss-backs  nearly  all  driven  out,  fine  stone  blocks, 
schools,  and  churches.  The  Peck  Water- Works 
Company  furnishes  the  City  and  the  Eailroad  with 
the  finest  quality  of  water  in  the  State,  and  a  fire 
protection  second  to  none.  Its  location,  on  the 
western  line  of  Kansas,  is  almost  identical. with 
that  of  Kansas  City  on  the  eastern,  and  twenty 
years  from  now  may  find  it  as  large  a  City;  for  its 
intermediately  high  altitude  and  one  of  the  finest 
climates  in  the  world  (there  having  been  only 
about  forty  stormy  days  in  1889,  it  being  just  near 
enough  to  the  mountains  to  escape  the  storms  of 
Eastern  and  Middle  Kansas,  and  far  enough  away 
to  avoid  the  cold  from  the  snow  in  them),  and  its 

(359) 


360 


A  MIGHTY  HUNTER. 


Artesian  Waters,  possessing  highly  curative  prop- 
erties, are  fast  bringing  Coolidge  into  prominence 
as  a  legitimate  health  resort.  Everyone  recom- 
mended to  go  to  the  mountains  for  pulmonary  and 
throat  troubles  will  find  it  wise  to  stop  here  and 
get  acclimated.  The  change  from  a  low  altitude  to 
that  of  Manitou,  Colorado  Springs,  and  Denver  is  so 
great  that  many  well  people  can  not  stand  it,  while 
invalids  are  often  seriously  injured,  whereas  if 
they  had  acclimated  themselves  at  Coolidge,  they 
would  in  most  cases  recover.  The  Artesian  Water 
has  effected  some  remarkable  cures  of  chronic 
kidney  and  liver  troubles.  The  address  of  those 
cured  will  be  promptly  furnished  on  application. 

Coolidge  is  situated  on  the  Main  Line  of  the 
Santa  Ee  Railroad,  which  has  here  its  Division 
Round-house,  Work-shops,  and  Eating-house,  and 
pays  out  monthly  about  $8,000.  It  is  also  situated 
in  the  Valley  of  the  Arkansas  River,  surrounded 
by  the  most  fertile  lands  in  the  West,  and  as  a 
stock-growing  locality  it  is  incomparable. 

Youngblood,  after  having  traversed  the  plains 
for  twenty  years,  here  decided  to  pitch  his  tent, 
finding  here  the  best  natural  resources,  climate, 
and  water,  and  knowing  that  a  prosperous  City 
must  eventually  raise  its  walls  in  this  favored  spot. 

All  inquiries  will  be  promptly  and  courteously 
answered  by  the  City  Clerk,  or  the  Coolidge  State 
Bank. 


TESTIMONIALS. 


This  is  to  certify  that  I  have  known  C.  L.  Youngblood 
19  years,  and  want  to  say  right  here,  that  in  all  of  my 
hunting  on  the  plains  I  have  never  seen  a  better  hunter. 
In  fact,  I  believe  that  he  has  killed  more  game  than  any 
man  that  ever  lived.  This  is  saying  a  great  deal,  and  a 
great  many  hunters  will  doubt  this  statement,  but  if  they 
knew  Charles  Youngblood  as  I  do,  seen  his  hunting,  been 
with  him  in  camp,  shared  in  his  chases  over  the  plains  in 
pursuit  of  Buffalo,  and  been  a  helpmate  to  him  in  roaming 
over  the  plains  after  Mustangs,  I  think  that  their  doubts 
would  vanish.  He  is  getting  old  now,  but  can  yet  kill 
more  game  than  most  men.  The  secret  of  his  success  is 
his  skill  in  getting  onto  game;  most  hunters  can  shoot  well, 
but  getting  close  enough  is  the  trouble.  In  getting  onto 
game  upon  the  level  prairie  (yes,  level  as  floor  for  miles)  is 
where  most  hunters  are  foiled.  He  has  this  down  to  per- 
fection; he  is  a  small  man,  but  his  wonderful  endurance 
enables  him  to  go  farther  after  game  than  anyone  that  I 
ever  saw.  He  is  not  given  to  boasting,  says  but  very  little 
about  his  exploits  as  a  hunter;  he  is  kind,  hospitable, 
generous,  and  of  good  character;  temperate  in  all  his 
habits. 

I  want  to  say  a  word  here  in  regard  to  his  truthfulness 
and  honesty.  There  is  no  man  that  I  would  believe  quicker 
than  him;  no  man  that  1  would  sooner  trust.  I  will  close 
these  remarks  by  wishing  him  many  blessings  and  happy 
years  to  come.  '  Lee  Howabd. 

["Old  Hunter  Lee."] 

(361) 


362 


A  MIGHTY  HtnSTTEK. 


Newton,  Kansas. 
I  do  hereby  cheerfully  state  that  I  have  known  Charles 
L.  Youngblood,  "A  Mighty  Hunter,"  for  the  past  sixteen 
years.  He  is  one  of  the  most  successful  hunters  I  have 
ever  known  or  heard  of  on  the  Western  plains,  and  I  can 
vouch  for  the  truthfulness  of  his  narrative. 

J.  H.  Bender, 
Passenger  Conductor  on  A.,  T.  &  8.  F.  R.  R.  Co. 

for  the  past  17  years. 


Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  R.  R.  Co. 

Coolidge  Station,  Sept.  20,  1888. 
I  hereby  recommend  this  book,  written  from  the  diary 
of  C.  L.  Youngblood,  whom  I  have  known  in  this  section 
of  Western  Kansas  this  past  eight  years.  As  * '  A  Mighty 
Hunter  "  and  trapper  he  may  have  had  equals,  but  excelled 
by  none.  Respectfully, 

C.  M.  Johnston, 

Agt.  A.y  T.  <&8.  F.  Ry., 

Coolidge,  Kans. 

Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  R.  R.  Co. 

Colorado  Springs,  July  1 ,  1889. 
To  whom  it  may  concern:  I  have  known  Mr.  C.  L. 
Youngblood  since  1883.  During  the  several  years  I  was 
agent  at  Coolidge,  Kansas,  the  home  of  the  old  frontiers- 
man, I  shipped  to  Eastern  markets  large  quantities  of 
Buffalo  and  Antelope  killed  by  him.  Mr.  Youngblood  is 
our  oldest  living  hunter  on  the  plains;  his  mind  is  active, 
and  full  of  reminiscences  of  encounters  with  Red-skins  and 
wild  animals.  Preston  C.  Dockstadeb, 

Agent  Santa  Fe. 


The  Montezuma  Hotel, 

A  handsome  structure  of  stone,  is  located  at  Las  Vegas  Hot  Springs, 
New  Mexico.  This  renowned  mid-continent  pleasure  and  health 
resort  is  six  miles  from  the  city  of  Las  Vegas,  on  a  branch  of  the 

Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Railroad. 

An  elevation  of  7,000  feet  above  sea-level;  a  bright  and  clear 
climate  (ten  sunny  days  for  every  cloudy  one) ,  and  beautiful  mount- 
ain scenery,  with  the  attendant  pleasures  of  hunting  and  fishing, 
combine  to  make  Las  Vegas  Hot  Springs  deservedly  popular  among 
all  classes  of  tourists. 

Montezuma  Hotel  has  every  modern  convenience,  including  tele- 
graph, telephone,  and  four  daily  passenger  trains.  It  is  also  open 
for  guests 

EVERY  DAY  IN  THE  YEAR. 

The  many  springs  near  the  hotel  are  justly  celebrated  for  their 
healing  properties. 

Round-trip  excursion  tickets  are  on  sale  to  Las  Vegas  Hot  Springs 
at  all  principal  coupon  stations. 

Write  for  pamphlet  to 

GEO.  T.  NICHOLSON, 

General  Passenger  and  Ticket  Agent  A.,  T.  &  S.  F.  R.  R., 
TOPEKA,  KANSAS, 

Or,  JNO.  J.  BYRNE,  Ass't  Gen'l  Pass,  and  Ticket  Agt.,  Chicago,  HI. 


Mm  National  Bank, 

S.  W.  Cor.  Twelfth  and  Main  Streets, 

KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


CAPITAL,  -  -  -  $250,000.00. 


OFFICERS. 

R.  W.  TUREMAN,  President. 

M.  H.  CRAWFORD,  Vice-President. 
L.  D.  COOPER,  Cashier. 

R.  J.  HAWKINS,  Assistant  Cashier. 


DIRECTORS. 

R.  W.  TUREMAN,  B.  K.  SUMERWELL,  T.  B.  BUCK- 
NER,  JOHN  HALL,  CHARLES  STEWART,  L.  D.  COOPER, 
JUDGE  J.  L.  SMITH,  R.  E.  TALPEY,  DR.  G.  W.  FITZ- 
PATRICK3  J.  K.  RIPPEL,  R.  J.  HAWKINS,  H.  S.  RHODES, 
M.  H.  CRAWFORD,  F.  F.  ROZZELLE,  JUDGE  A.  W. 
ALLEN. 


SHIPMAN 


PutomatiG  Steam  Englqes 

AND 

BOILERS, 

ONE  TO  FORTY  HORSE  POWER. 

KEROSENE  FOR  FUEL. 

Simple,  Efficient,  and  Economical 
for  all  uses. 

NO  DIRT.    NO  DOST.    NO  ENGINEER. 

FOR  FULL  PARTICULARS  ADDRESS: 

E.  H.  PECK,   -   ■  Agent, 

COOLIDCE,  KANS. 


V 


1^ 


Mam 


